Stuart's Spartans: Backstab
by AidanPryde
Summary: Indefiantely On Hold pending a rewrite. Sorry folks, just wasnt happy with it
1. Prologue

I don't own anything other than the plot and the original characters…everything else belongs to someone else, so don't sue me, ok?

-----------------

Summary:

**Stuart's Spartans: Backstab**

Sequel to Stuart's Spartans: Devil's Wrath. The Spartans came away from Devil's Rock in shambles. After merging with the remnants to the Restless Souls and under the Field Command of Jake 'Ice' Olsen, the Spartans have spent months training and rebuilding, emerging stronger than ever. But there are some situations where strength isn't enough and enemies aren't always visible from the cockpit of a 'mech. Trouble looms on the horizon and treachery abounds in the shadows. Can 'Ice' hold his command together in the face of peril from the outside as well as within? Will the strength of character and command be enough to preserve his people from the cross-fire while honoring his contract and duties? Nothing is certain when who you are supposed to rely on becomes uncertain and you know you have been backstabed…

--------------------

**Spartans' Mercenary Compound  
****Outreach, Chaos March  
****September 13th, 3058**

Ice was returning to the barracks after a long run around the boarder of the small compound so graciously loaned to the Spartans by their sponsor unit, the Dragon's Teeth. On his way to his quarters he came across Frank, the official CO of the Stuart's Spartans Mercenary Company, carrying some paperwork and heading towards his office. "Jake, you have a few minutes? I just got a contract offer from Kurita that I want to go over with you and get your opinion." "Sure thing guy, let me go change, grab some water, and I'll be there in 10, ok?" "See you in a few then."

A few short moments later, Jake 'Ice' Olsen knocked on Frank's door and entered. "So what's this about a contract?" "Well, apparently the Combine is hiring out merc units to cover its important planets along the Federated Suns/Commonwealth boarder. Apparently they're shifting their regular units clan-side for some offensive. They've offered us a one-year contract to supplement their local militia on Marduk, which they've stripped down to the bare minimum. Despite the peace they have with Davion, I guess they want to make sure that Norse Battlemech Works stays safe. Contract pays very well for a garrison duty and threat level is minimal. We'd be assisting what's left of there local assets: six DCMS militia regiments, two of infantry, three of armor, and one of mechs. Apparently it has Kurita worried that are low on heavier mech assets and need some additional support. If there was a large enough threat, Norse Battlemech officially keeps a battalion each of mechs and armor on site for additional protection."

"Doesn't sound like too bad of a deal. If anything else it'd give us more time to work the rookies in and get them up to spec with the rest of the unit. Just out of curiosity, what are they offering on salvage in case there is conflict?" "We'd get full salvage and access to the local repair facilities." "In that case, Frank, I'm all for it." "Alright then, Jake. Go round up the folks and tell'em to start packing. I'll pay a visit to the Combine's Liaison office and let them know."

-------------------

**Dragon's Nest Bar & Grill  
****New Pontiac, Marduk  
****Draconis Combine**

She entered the bar and immediately headed for a side booth, shaking the rain off her jacket as she went. Moments later, a man looking to be in his mid 30s slid in across the table from her. "It's been a long time, my friend." "It most certainly has James. You remember that crazy idea you had back in the University?" Seeing him nod she continued. "I have some information for you. Most of the 'family' is going to be leaving in a couple months for some 'construction work' elsewhere. If you want to bring the old group over and have a party, we could have plenty of get-togethers after New Years."

A sparkle of understanding lit up in the man's eyes. "Why that would be positively splendid. Most of our friends have gone off-world over to the Davion side of the boarder, but it wouldn't be very difficult to arrange for a reunion and some celebrations. Thank you very much for letting me know. If you're willing or able to help us set up for our return party, let me know next week…I'll be sending out the invites."

As quickly as he had arrived, the man left the bar and disappeared into the crowds mulling about in a light autumn rain shower. Having herself a few drinks, the woman couldn't help but laugh quietly and think how much they would pay…oh how much and how dearly they would pay…


	2. Chapter 1: A new home

Insert traditional disclaimer that 'I don't own anything' here. If I slip into using callsigns to refer to people more often than not, don't be suprised.

**Base Briefing Room  
****Spartans' Mercenary Compound, Outreach  
****September 13th, 3058**

Jacob 'Ice' Olsen, CO of the Stuart's Spartans Mercenary Company, looked out upon the one hundred plus men and women that now composed the military arm of the Spartans' firepower. It was still hard to believe that the Spartans were this strong after almost being shattered five months prior in their assault on Devil's Rock. The Davions had honored their part of the contract and repaired what they had said they would, and even throwing in a decent hazard bonus for unforeseen circumstances.

After days of negotiation and debate, Leslie 'Rommy' Witters had agreed with terms and the tattered remnants of the Restless Souls merged with the Spartans as equal partners. Between the merger and the large amount of salvage the techs were able to haul in before liftoff, the Spartans had been able to fill out to almost five Lances of mechs and trade/sell a few chassis to procure new equipment for Caboose's armor command, fund the hiring, training, and formation of a company of infantry, and upgrade the company's mech strength with chassis/weapon upgrades as well as adding new chassis to the TO&E. In fact, the 'company' was almost to the size of a mixed-arms battalion. It was to the point that they couldn't fit all of their equipment on the Unit's two dropships and had to put their fifth lance of mechs into storage with their sponsors because of lack of room and lack of pilots. To fill out their roster, Dani Klecha, the Spartan's chief tech, had taken the test and had been pulled up to fill out an opening in Taylor 'Tribal' Jones' new lance.

Clearing his throat, Ice walked up to the microphone. "Alright people. You all know why we're here today. New contract offer came in from House Kurita for a garrison duty on Marduk. Our primary task would be to protect the Norse Battlemech Works facility and a secondary job to assist the local militia for planetary defense. Y'all know the drill; any questions, comments, concerns about this contract?" A hand went up in the back of the auditorium. "What's the pay and the threat level?" "Threat level is minimal…there have been a few local disturbances over the past few months, but those are to be handled by the militia if need be. Don't worry about pay, it'll be enough to cover your repairs and give every one of you a pretty good sized share. Any other questions?" Hearing none, Jacob continued "Alright then, hit the barracks and start packing. Skipper will go hammer out details and we'll leave in a week. Draconis Combine, here we come…"

--------break------

**Norse Battlemech Works spaceport  
****Marduk, Draconis Combine  
****December 20th, 3058**

Ice had never been so glad to be on solid ground again. It had been a long 3 month trip from Outreach to Marduk. It would have been shorter if not for mechanical problems with their hired Jumpship's sail. He made a note to himself to never again hire a Jumpship from that company. The only thing that prevented him from kneeling down and kissing the pavement was that the pad was still superheated from the Spartans' pair of dropships, and that there were representatives from the local government, militia, and Norse Battlemechs waiting at the edge of the tarmac to meet him.

Flanked by David 'Grogg' MacIntosh and Leslie 'Rommy' Witters, Jacob marched off the pavement towards the officials. As one, Jake, David, and Leslie halted three paces away from the representatives and snapped off a salute. "Stuart's Spartans reporting for contracted garrison duty." "Welcome to Marduk gentlemen and lady. I am Governor Atkins, head administrator for the planetary government" said the large man in the center of the line. "To my right is _Tai-sa_ Tetsuo Toriyama, commander of Marduk's militia and his aide _Chu-sa _Kaori Yuki (AN: Female). To my left here is Ms. Relina Morimoto, supervisor and administrator for Norse Battlemech Works." Bowing before the assembled group, Jacob spoke up "It is my honor and pleasure to meet you all. May our year working together be a peaceful and profitable venture for us all. The Stuart's Spartans look forward to the hospitality of Marduk. My apologies for having to be so short, but my duty to the Spartans beckons and I must escort the unit to our new home."

"Of course Major Olsen. I wouldn't dream of delaying you from settling in. If you are able within the next week, I would like to talk to you more face-to face in New Pontiac" replied the Governor. "As would I, Major" spoke _Tai-sa_ Toriyama. "Until we meet again. _Chu-sa_ Yuki will escort you to your new base. Good day to you, Major"

--------break------------

The column of Spartans wound its way through the dense growth of the Tillerbee Jungle. Kaori Yuki, the militia commander's aide, was leading the mercenaries to the small, vacated militia base that lay about 15 kilometers east of the Norse Battlemech Works facility. Normally, the base would be occupied by a company or two of militia or garrison forces to protect the Norse facility located at the center of the jungle. However, because the standard DCMS garrison and almost half of the planetary militia had been pulled off-planet, the base was open and it would be up to the Spartans to assist in planetary defense AND protect the valuable mech assembly lines.

The Spartans were assigned to take over a small militia base/outpost located in the Tillerbee Jungle along the only road between Norse Battlemech Works. Norse Battlemechs was located at the center of the Jungle, and so the road through the thinnest part of the growth was the only direct land route to the planetary capital of New Pontiac, which lay a little over 80 kilometers east of the Norse factories. What militia remained on planet was based just outside New Pontiac and so coordination between the spread out forces would be crucial.

As his _Devastator_ cleared the last bend in the road, Ice found himself staring out over a vast clearing of jungle. In the distance stood the imposing walls and turrets of the Spartans' new home. There must have been almost a kilometer of jungle cleared in every direction to make for open fields of fire. This was Norse Battlemechs' modern day Thermopylae, now defended once again by legions of Spartans. If there was to be any major attack, it would have to come along this path through the jungle, or risk raging rivers, swamps, and hazards capable of swallowing whole lances of mechs and pilots without leaving any trace of their existence.

"Spartans, welcome to Thermopylae Base, our new home for the next 12 months." A few appreciative whistles over the formidable looks of the base sounded on comms, answering Ice's announcement. "Alright ladies, stop gawking and keep moving. I want to be all settled in by nightfall."

Parking his _Devastator_ just inside the gate, Ice dismounted and waved over Kaori Yuki, the female XO of the Marduk Militia. "This is one heck of a base, _Chu-sa_ Yuki." "Indeed it is Major Olsen. You will find it a bit empty, however. We originally designed this fortress to house two battalions of mechs as well as any support forces. You will probably take up only a third of the space, but that doesn't make the defenses any less lethal. After the Combine captured Marduk in the Fourth Succession War, protecting the Norse Battlemech facility and its valuable production lines became a priority. The result is what you will be calling home for the next 12 months. If you take a look at the walls, you'll find a turret every 50 meters lining the compound. There is another line of turrets that rings the clearing as well as strong-point defense fortresses placed at key points. Frankly, sir, you have the enviable position of calling one of the best defended strongholds on Marduk your home for the time being."

Bowing to the _Chu-sa_, Ice spoke once more. "My thanks to you, _Chu-sa_ Yuki, for escorting us to our new home. Perhaps we might meet and discuss the local situations more after I have settled my unit into our new environment." "Perhaps we will Major" replied Kaori as she returned the bow and turned to leave.

Just then a loud clang resounded across the parade ground inside the complex. Ice looked up in horror to see Frog's 25 ton _Dart_ go sprawling across the turf and nearly hit Caboose and his precious tank. In fact he could see Caboose pulling himself up through the turret hatch. He could also hear Caboose cursing out Frog from nearly 60 meters away and, if he wasn't mistaken, Caboose wanted to kick someone's ass for almost messing up his tank. Standing over Frog and his mech was Mobius' 100 ton _King Crab_. Apparently out of either boredom or humor, perhaps even both, Mobius had decided to extend his mech's long arms and clothes-line Frog as he passed by. 'Damnit Mobius, ya fracking troublemaker' thought Ice as he jogged over towards Caboose to stop him from pummeling either Frog and/or Mobius senseless for almost hurting his 'baby'…this was going to be a very long day.

----break-------

**Downtown New Pontiac,  
****Marduk, Draconis Combine  
****December 30, 3058**

He was a perfect target. Out in the open in downtown New Pontiac, with almost no security and on a raised stage, the man flat out stood no chance. Even being amongst the large crowds that packed New Pontiac the day before New Years offered no protection from her expert eye.

She had waited on this rooftop for four hours! Four freaking hours in the tropical heat in this blasted Kuritan uniform. It wasn't just a matter of killing this guy, no, this was all a matter of timing and style. However the time was drawing near. The speaker had managed to attract a large crowd to listen to his anti-Kurita ramblings. Why the Combine even allowed these people most of the freedoms they had held under Davion rule was not her concern, although it had popped into her head a few times over the past few hours of waiting.

There! The man was hitting the climax of his speech! All eyes were on him, all ears were focused, now was the time. She once again sighted her rifle, lining up the crosshairs of the scope with the top of his head. Holding her breath to steady the rifle, she gently squeezed the trigger. A loud 'CRACK' resounded through the square as the rifle kicked back and the speaker's head exploded in a shower of blood, bone, and brain matter, spraying his colleagues behind him.

The shooter quickly stood up into the open to catch the crowd's attention before moving back out of sight. As expected, they spotted her and shouts of "Kurita sniper!" could be heard as a few of the more vengeful of the listeners ran past the stage towards the building behind it, where she had fired from. Leaving the rifle on the rooftop, the sniper disappeared silently out of sight…

----------break-----------------

Ice was enjoying his ride through downtown New Pontiac. Caboose was driving the two of them to the Militia base on the far side of town in a jeep painted in Kurita colors that had been left at Thermopylae base for their use. It had been an uneventful trip so far and they were just passing behind a large political rally when there was a very loud 'CRACK', resulting in a dead speaker and an outraged crowd. Caboose slammed on the brakes to asses where the threat was coming from, but from the echoes and the shouts, the sniper was or had been almost right above them.

Within seconds, there were dozens of people pouring past the stage in search of the shooter. One of the first things they saw was a Kurita jeep with a pair of mercenaries with very distinctive red uniform shirts. "There, Kurita Mercs! Get them!" Ice looked over at Caboose and said two simple words that described everything. "Oh shit…" That was all the encouragement that Caboose needed to slam on the accelerator and send the jeep rocketing down the street in an attempt to escape the angry and bloodthirsty crowd. Unfortunately, the crowd numbered in the hundreds, if not thousands. Another group of people came running out of the park and into the road, cutting off the main escape route. Caboose slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting anyone and tried to cut down a small side street but the jeep lost traction, sending in into a spin and right towards an office building…

-----end chapter----

Author's Note: yeah, I know, evil cliffy…lol. Sorry people, but that's all you get for now. Chapter two will be done within the week if all goes well. Don't forget to review so that I know if there's anything I could stand to change or do. Until the next chapter…toodles!

-AP


	3. 30583059 TO&E for Stuart's Spartans

AN: I dont own any of this info. Also, this is just a list of equipment as of the beginning of the story, I'll undoubtedly have to update it towards the end of the story so that y'all will be able to follow all the changes, but for now here is the TO&E that will cover the units present on Maruk.

**TO&E for Stuart's Spartans  
****as of December, 3058.**

**Owner/Liaison Officer/Commander**: Frank 'Skipper' Stuart  
**Commanding Field Officer**: Jacob 'Ice' Olsen  
**Executive Officer in the Field:** Leslie 'Rommy' Witters

-

_Thunder Lance _(Command Lance)

Jacob 'Ice' Olsen (CO/Lance Commander): _Devastator_ (100tons)  
Leslie 'Rommy' Witters (XO): _Berserker_ (100tons)  
Shannon 'Raven' Blackwood: _Nightstar_ (95tons)  
Kyle 'Mobius' Edwards: _King Crab_ (100tons)

--

_Spatha Lance_

David 'Grogg' MacIntosh (Lance Commander): _Cestus_ (65tons)  
Steven 'Nexarim' Akamatsu: _Gallowglas_ (70tons)  
Raul 'Arcturos' Hernandez: _Cataphract_ (70tons)  
Liz 'Marzipan' Hamilton: _Timberwolf_ (75tons)

---

_Lightning Lance_

Josh 'Bravo' Louden (Lance Commander): _Fireball_ (20tons)  
Nick 'Frog' Kearns: _Dart_ (25tons)  
Marcus 'Beers' Fletcher: _Cicada_ (40tons)  
Tessa 'Hawk' Simon: _Hermes_ (30tons)

----

_Hoplon Lance_

Taylor 'Tribal' Jones (Lance Commander): _Lineholder_ (55tons)  
Colton 'Storm' Jones: _Warhammer_ (70tons)  
Dani 'Green' Klecha: _Hunchback_ (50tons)  
Hollie 'Flyer' Ransom: _Firestarter_ (35tons)

-----

**Stuart's Spartans Armored Company  
****Armored/Infantry CO: Dan 'Caboose' Kastor**

_Beast Lance_

Alacorn Mk VI tank (95tons) Command Vehicle  
Alacorn Mk VI tank (95tons)  
Rommel tank (65tons)  
Challenger X MBT (90tons)

--

Rain Lance (demi-Lance)

LRM Carrier (60tons)  
Chaparral support vehicle (50tons)  
Bulldog Medium Tank (50tons)

---

_Midget Company_

1 x Platoon of Cavalier Battle Armor (16 suits/troops)  
2 x Platoons of Infantry (56 troops combined, 28 per platoon)  
4 x APC-H Armored Personnel Carrier (Hover) (10tons each)

---

_Salvage Teams_ (_The Dumpster Divers_)

2 x Battlemech Recovery Vehicles (50tons)  
1 x Heavy Battlemech Recovery Vehicle (70tons)  
1 x Engineering Vehicle (40tons)

------

**Stuart's Spartans Dropships**

_Pride of Sparta_: Hamilcar-class Dropship  
_Chupacabra_: Pentagon-class Dropship

----------

Note of Warning: Here's a list of stats for as many of these machines that I could find. If you are not interested in looking or already know and don't want to look through about a dozen pages of mech/vehicle/dropship stats, I advise you to scroll back to the top and move to the next chapter. Thank you

-AP

---------

_**Company Battlemechs in order mentioned in TO&E list above**_

_**Thunder Lance**_

DVS-2 Devastator (Pilot: Jacob 'Ice' Olsen)  
_Mass: _100 tons  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Class: _Assault  
_Chassis: _Star League XT  
_Power Plant: _Vlar 300 XL  
_Cruising Speed: _32 kph  
_Maximum Speed: _54 kph  
_Armor: _Durallex Heavy  
_Armament:  
_2 Poland Main Model A Gauss Rifles  
2 Donal Particle Projection Cannon  
4 Intek Medium Lasers  
_Manufacturer: _Norse-Storm BattleMechs, Inc.  
_Factory: _Loxley  
_Communications System: _Johnston Wide Band  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _Rander Pinpoint-HYBRZ-A3 Berserker (Pilot: Leslie 'Rommy' Witters) _Mass: _100 tons 

BRZ-A3 Berserker (Pilot: Leslie 'Rommy' Witters)  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Class: _Assault  
_Chassis: _Defiance Berserker  
_Power Plant: _Pitban 400 XL  
_Cruising Speed: _43.2 kph  
_Maximum Speed:  
_64.8 kph  
(w/MASC) 86 kph  
_Armor: _Durallex Special Heavy  
_Armament:  
_1 Defiance 1001 ER PPC  
1 MainFire Point Defense Anti-Missile System  
2 Sutel Precision Line Large Pulse Lasers  
1 Zippo Flamer  
_Manufacturer: _Defiance Industries  
_Factory: _Hesperus II  
_Communications System: _Neil 9000 with Guardian Electronic Countermeasures  
T_argeting and Tracking System: _Angst Clear View 2A

NSR-9J Nightstar (Pilot: Shannon 'Raven' Blackwood)  
_Mass: _95 tons  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Class: _Assault  
_Chassis: _Norse-GM HeavyTRQ  
_Power Plant: _Pitban 285 XL  
_Cruising Speed: _32 kph  
_Maximum Speed: _54 kph  
_Armor: _Kellon Royalstar Heavy Type K  
_Armament:  
_2 Norse-Storm Model 7D Gauss Rifles  
1 Defiance 1001 ER PPC  
2 Defiance P5M Medium Pulse Lasers  
1 Exostar Small Laser  
_Manufacturer:  
_GM BattleMechs  
Norse-Storm Technologies Inc.  
_Factory:  
_Kathil  
Solaris VII  
_Communications System: _Tek Battlecomm  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _DLK Type Phased Array Sensors

KGC-000 King Crab (Pilot: Kyle 'Mobius' Edwards)  
_Mass: _100 tons  
_Tech Base: _Star League  
_Class: _Assault  
_Chassis: _Hollis Mark II  
_Power Plant: _Vlar 300  
_Cruising Speed: _32 kph  
_Maximum Speed: _54 kph  
_Armor: _Aldis X Ferro-Fibrous, w/CASE  
_Armament: _(Upgraded)  
2 Defiance Thunder Ultra AC/20s  
2 Holly LRM-5 Racks  
1 ExoStar extended-range Large Laser  
_Manufacturer: _Cosara Weaponries  
_Communications System: _Dalban Commline  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _Dalban Hirez-B

--------------- _**Spatha Lance** --------------_

CTS-6Y Cestus (Pilot: David "Grogg" MacIntosh)  
_Mass: _65 tons  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Class: _Heavy  
_Chassis: _GM Heavy CVA  
_Power Plant: _GM 260 XL  
_Cruising Speed: _43 kph  
_Maximum Speed: _65 kph  
_Armor: _Durallex Special Heavy  
_Armament:  
_2 Defiance B3L Large Lasers  
2 ChisComp 39 Medium Lasers  
1 Poland Main Model A Gauss Rifle  
_Manufacturer:  
_General Motors  
Blue Shot Weapons (under license)  
_Factory:  
_Kathil  
Solaris VII  
_Communications System: _TharHes Thalia HM-22  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _Salamander Systems CommPhase UnitGAL-1GLS

Gallowglas (Pilot: Steven 'Nex' Akamatsu)  
_Mass: _70 tons  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Class: _Heavy  
_Chassis: _BLKWL-52gls  
_Power Plant: _Vox 280  
_Cruising Speed: _43 kph  
_Maximum Speed: _65 kph  
_Jump Jets: _Geotec 300  
_Jump Capacity: _90m  
_Armor: _Valiant Lamellor  
_Armament:  
_2 Magna Quasar Medium Pulse Lasers  
1 Magna Starglow Small Laser  
2 Sunglow Large Lasers  
1 Tiegart Magnum PPC (ER)  
_Manufacturer: _Blackwell Heavy Industries  
_Factory: _Outreach  
_Communications System: _Dalban Micronics  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _Dalban HiRez II

CTF-3D Cataphract (Pilot: Raul 'Arcturos' Hernandez)  
_Mass: _70 tons  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Class: _Heavy  
_Chassis: _Earthwerk CTF  
_Power Plant: _General Motors 280 Extralight  
_Cruising Speed: _43.2 kph  
_Maximum Speed: _64.8 kph  
_Jump Jets: _HildCo Model 12  
_Jump Capacity: _120m  
_Armor: _Kallon Royalstar with CASE  
_Armament:  
_1 Mydron Excel LB 10-X Autocannon  
1 General Motors Nova-5 Autocannon  
4 Intek Medium Lasers  
_Manufacturer: _Earthwerks Incorporated  
_Factory: _Tikonov  
_Communications System: _CommuTech Multi-Channel 10  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _BlazeFire Sightlock

Timber Wolf (Pilot: Liz 'Marzipan' Hamilton)  
_Mass: _75 tons  
_Tech Base: _Clan  
_Class: _Heavy  
_Chassis: _Endo Steel  
_Power Plant: _375 XL  
_Cruising Speed: _54 kph  
_Maximum Speed: _86.4 kph  
_Armor: _Ferro-Fibrous  
_Armament: _(Customized)  
2 Clan extended-range Large Lasers  
2 Clan extended-range Medium Lasers  
2 Clan LRM-20 Racks  
_Manufacturer: _Unknown  
_Communications System: _Unknown  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _Unknown

------ _**Lightning Lance** ---------_

ALM-7D Fireball (Pilot: Joshua 'Bravo' Louden)  
_Mass: _20 tons  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Class: _Light  
_Chassis: _Corean Model 334AA Endo Steel  
_Power Plant: _Dav 200 XL  
_Cruising Speed: _120 kph  
_Maximum Speed: _184 kph  
_Armor: _Durallex Nova  
_Armament:  
_2 Intek Medium Lasers  
_Manufacturer: _Corean Enterprises  
_Factory: _New Avalon  
_Communications System: _Lynx-shur  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _Corean B-Tech

DRT-3S Dart (Pilot: Nick 'Frog' Kearns)  
_Mass: _25 tons  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Class: _Light  
_Chassis: _Coventry Metal Works Model D-3  
_Power Plant: _Vox 225  
_Cruising Speed: _97 kph  
_Maximum Speed: _151 kph  
_Armor: _Lexington Limited  
_Armament: _3 Magna 200P Small Pulse Lasers  
_Manufacturer: _Coventry Metal Works  
_Factory: _Coventry  
_Communications System: _Cyclops 14  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _Cyclops Mutli-Tasker 10

CDA-3M Cicada (Pilot: Marcus 'Beers' Fletcher)  
_Mass: _40 tons  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Class: _Medium  
_Chassis: _Kell Reinforced 240  
_Power Plant: _Hermes 320 XL  
_Cruising Speed: _86.4 kph  
_Maximum Speed: _129.6 kph  
_Armor: _Durallex Light with CASE  
_Armament:  
_2 Magna Mk II Medium Lasers  
1 Imperator Ultra-5 Autocannon  
1 Magna 200P Small Pulse Laser  
_Manufacturer: _Free Worlds Defense Industries  
_Factory: _Gibson  
_Communications System: _Datacom 50  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _Dynatec 1122

HER-3S Hermes (Pilot: Tessa 'Hawk' Madison)  
_Mass: _30 tons  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Class: _Light  
_Chassis: _Irian Chassis Class 10  
_Power Plant: _GM 270 (MASC)  
_Cruising Speed: _97 kph  
_Maximum Speed: _151 kph  
_Armor: _Jolassa-328 Ferro-Fibrous  
_Armament: _2 Hellion-V Medium Lasers  
_Manufacturer: _Irian BattleMechs Unlimited  
_Factory: _Irian  
_Communications System: _Irian TelStar  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _Alexis Photon Target Acquisition System with Beagle Probe

----------**_Hoplon Lance_**------------

KW1-LH2 Lineholder (Pilot: Taylor 'Tribal' Jones)  
_Mass: _55 tons  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Class: _Medium  
_Chassis: _Kressly GRF1A-MDX  
_Power Plant: _CoreTek 275 Fusion  
_Cruising Speed: _54 kph  
_Maximum Speed: _83 kph  
_Armor: _Kressly Stoneskin 30M  
_Armament:  
_2 LongFire V LRM Racks  
4 Intek Medium Lasers  
1 BlazeFire Systems Large Laser  
_Manufacturer: _Kressly Warworks  
_Factory: _Epsilon Eridani  
_Communications System: _Angst Clear Channel 3  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _RCA Instatrac Mk XII

WHM-6R Warhammer (Pilot: Colton 'Storm' Jones)  
_Mass: _70 tons  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Class: _Heavy  
_Chassis: _StarCorp 100  
_Power Plant: _VOX 280  
_Cruising Speed: _43.2 kph  
_Maximum Speed: _64.8 kph  
_Armor: _Leviathon Plus  
_Armament:  
_2 Donal PPCs  
2 Martell Medium Lasers  
2 Magna Small Lasers  
1 Holly Short Range Missile Pack (6)  
2 SperryBrowning Machine Guns  
_Manufacturer: _StarCorp Industries  
_Communications System: _O/P 3000 COMSET  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _O/P 1500 ARB

HBK-5M Hunchback (Pilot: Dani 'Green' Klecha)  
_Mass: _50 tons  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Class: _Medium  
_Chassis: _Crucis Type V  
_Power Plant: _Magna 200  
_Cruising Speed: _43.9 kph  
_Maximum Speed: _63.5 kph  
_Armor: _Durallex Tensile-4 with CASE  
_Armament:  
_1 Kali Yama Big Bore Autocannon  
2 Hellion-V Medium Lasers  
1 Sunglow Prism-Optic Small Pulse Laser  
_Manufacturer: _Kali Yama Weapons Industries Inc.  
_Factory: _Kalidasa  
_Communications System: _Omicron 4002 Networking Channel  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _TRSS Eagle Eye

FS9-S Firestarter (Pilot: Hollie 'Flyer' Ransom)  
_Mass: _35 tons  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Class: _Light  
_Chassis: _Foundation Ultralight Endo Steel  
_Power Plant: _Omni 210  
_Cruising Speed: _64.8 kph  
_Maximum Speed: _97.2 kph  
_Jump Jets: _Luxor Load Lifters  
_Jump Capacity: _180m  
_Armor: _Durallex Nova  
_Armament:  
_4 Hotshot Flamers  
2 Defiance B3M Medium Lasers  
1 Diverse Optics Type 10 Small Laser  
1 SureFire 444 Anti-Missile System  
_Manufacturer: _Coventry Metal Works  
_Factory: _Coventry  
_Communications System: _Cyclops 14  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _Cyclops-Beagle Sensory Probe

------------**_Armored Corps_** ------------------

_**Beast Lance**_

Alacorn MK VI Heavy Tank x2  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Mass: _95 tons  
_Movement Type: _Tracked  
_Power Plant: _Pitban 285 XL Fusion Engine  
_Cruising Speed: _32kph  
_Flank Speed: _54kph  
_Armor: _Star Guard Type VH  
_Armament: _3 Norse-Storm Model-7D Gauss Rifles  
_Manufacturer: _New Earth Trading Company  
_Primary Factory: _New Earth  
_Communications System: _CeresCom Recon Model 21-Rs  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _TharHes Digital Scanlok 347

Challenger X MBT  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Mass: _90 tons  
_Movement Type: _Tracked  
_Power Plant: _GM 270 XL Fusion  
_Cruising Speed: _32kph  
_Flank Speed: _54kph  
_Armor: _Kallon Unity Weave Ferro-Fibrous  
_Armament:  
_1 Poland Main Model A Gauss Rifle  
1 Imperator Code Red LB 10-X Autocannon  
2 Martell Medium Pulse Lasers  
2 Federated Super Streak SRM-2 Racks  
1 Federated 10-Shot LRM Launcher  
1 Exostar Small Pulse Laser  
1 MainFire Point-Defense Anti-Missile System  
_Manufacturer:  
_Kallon Industries  
General Motors  
_Primary Factory: _Kirklin  
_Communications System: _Wunderland XXV-2 Series  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _Kallon Lock-On with Artemis FCS

Rommel  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Mass: _65 tons  
_Movement Type: _Tracked  
_Power Plant: _Magna 260 Fusion  
_Cruising Speed: _43.3kph  
_Flank Speed: _64.8kph  
_Armament:  
_1 Defiance 'Mech Hunter Autocannon  
1 Coventry Five-Tube Missile System  
1 A5L Small Laser  
_Manufacturer: _Defiance Industries of Hesperus II  
_Communications System: _TharHes Muse 54-58K  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _TharHes Mars5 

--------**_Rain Lance_** ---------------

LRM Carrier  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Mass: _60 tons  
_Movement Type: _Tracked  
_Power Plant: _InterComBust 120  
_Cruising Speed: _22kph  
_Flank Speed: _32kph  
_Armor: _Lexington Ltd. High Grade  
_Armament: _3 FarFire LRM Racks  
_Manufacturer: _Quickcell Company  
_Primary Factory: _Oliver  
_Communications System: _Communicator with C3 link  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _FireScan with IndirecTrack and Artemis FCS

Chaparral  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Mass: _50 tons  
_Movement Type: _Tracked  
_Power Plant: _Nissan 200  
_Cruising Speed: _43kph  
_Flank Speed: _65kph  
_Armor: _1/Star Slab  
_Armament:  
_2 Sapphire Medium lasers  
1 Shrike SRM-6 Launcher  
2 AIL Arrow IV Launchers  
_Manufacturer: _Grumman Industries  
_Communications System: _TransComm 12  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _TransComm WDS40A

Bulldog Medium Tank  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Mass: _50 tons  
_Movement Type: _Tracked  
_Power Plant: _Bulldog 240  
_Cruising Speed: _43kph  
_Flank Speed: _65kph  
_Armor: _Bulldog  
_Armament:  
_1 Bulldog Laser  
2 HoverTech Quad Missile Systems  
1 Bulldog Minigun  
_Manufacturer: _Bulldog Enterprise  
_Communications System: _Xilex-2000  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _Xilex-2000

--------------**_Miscellaneous Vehicles_**-------------

BattleMech Recovery Vehicle  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Mass: _50 tons  
_Movement Type: _Wheeled  
_Power Plant: _Generic 280 Internal Combustion  
_Cruising Speed: _65kph  
_Flank Speed: _97kph  
_Armor: _Lightweight steel body panels  
_Armament: _None  
_Communications System: _Various  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _None

Engineering Vehicle  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Mass: _40 tons  
_Movement Type: _Tracked  
_Power Plant: _240 WorkHorse, with PowerChain  
_Cruising Speed: _65kph  
_Flank Speed: _97kph  
_Armor: _Basic Metal Plate  
_Armament:  
_Power Digger Dual Shovel  
Trenchcutter Digger  
_Manufacturer: _Various  
_Communications System: _Various  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _None

APC-H Armored Personnel Carrier (Hover)  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Mass: _10 tons  
_Movement Type: _Hover  
_Power Plant: _I.C.E. Type 80  
_Cruising Speed: _108kph  
_Flank Speed: _162kph  
_Armor: _SimplePlate Manufacturers  
_Armament: _Various Machine Guns  
_Manufacturer: _Various  
_Communications System: _LongCom  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _OptiTrack Techniques

Heavy BattleMech Recovery Vehicle  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Mass: _70 tons  
_Movement Type: _Wheeled  
_Power Plant: _Generic 260 Internal Combustion  
_Cruising Speed: _43kph  
_Flank Speed: _65kph  
_Armor: _Various  
_Armament: _None  
_Communications System: _Various  
_Targeting and Tracking System: _None

-----------------**_Stuart Spartans Dropships_**-------------------------

Hamilcar-class DropShip (_Pride of Sparta_)  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Type: _Military Aerodyne  
_Use: _Assault DropShip  
_Tech: _Star League  
_Introduced: _3054  
_Mass: _3575 tons  
_Length: _132m  
_Width: _98m  
_Height: _34m  
_Fuel: _80 tons (480)  
_Tons/Burn-day: _1.84  
_Safe Thrust: _4  
_Maximum Thrust: _6  
_Heat Sinks: _56 (112)  
_Structural Integrity: _9  
_Cargo: _88 tons  
_Escape Pods: _4  
_Life Boats: _0  
_Crew: _36  
_Cost: _190000000  
_Armament:  
_4 ER Large Lasers  
2 ER PPCs  
2 Large Pulse Lasers  
1 Gauss Rifle  
3 LRM-15s with Artemis  
3 LRM-20s with Artemis  
2 SRM-4s with Artemis

Pentagon-class DropShip (_Chupacabra_)  
_Tech Base: _Inner Sphere  
_Type: _Military Spheroid  
_Use: _Assault DropShip  
_Tech: _Star League  
_Introduced: _2540  
_Mass: _4000 tons  
_Length: _89m  
_Width: _75m  
_Height: _75m  
_Fuel: _600 tons (18000)  
_Tons/Burn-day: _1.84  
_Safe Thrust: _7  
_Maximum Thrust: _11  
_Heat Sinks: _170 (240)  
_Structural Integrity: _21  
_Cargo: _407 tons  
_Escape Pods: _8  
_Life Boats: _1  
_Crew: _47  
_Armament:  
_6 ER Large Lasers  
6 ER PPCs  
3 Gauss Rifles  
5 LRM 20+Artemis  
8 Medium Lasers


	4. Chapter 2: How not to make friends

Author's Note:  
Thank you to pchadi0 for the review. It's good to know that I do have some readers, heh. This is really my first attempt at a political intrigue plot, so please point out anything I can correct if I get out of line. But you do bring up some very valid points in your review, and I do agree that this plot would also fare very well in Hasek-Davion's neighborhood. Though to hint a few things without giving away too much of the plot, the Kuritans may be trained in Bushido, but the Davionists that still populate most of the planet don't necessarily feel the same way looks around innocently…it'll become a bit more clear, I hope, as this goes on.

Insert disclaimer in here: I own nothing but plot, original characters and whatnot…Battletech, Mechwarrior, and references to Red vs Blue are owned by someone other than me…

----------break-----------

**Downtown New Pontiac,  
Marduk, Draconis Combine  
December 30, 3058**

"…_Caboose slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting anyone and tried to cut down a small side street but the jeep lost traction, sending in into a spin and right towards an office building…_"

With a sickening crunch, the jeep slammed into the side of the 4-story office building on an angle and careened another 20 meters down the street before coming to a sliding stop. Looking around to make sure he and Caboose were alright, Ice spurted out "Holy shit Caboose! That was just as bad as the time you drove the car through the garage into the bedroom…" "Shut up, ass" came the terse reply from the driver. "Come on Caboose, grab your weaps and let's jet before those crazy sons of bitches catch up to us for whatever the hell they think we did."

Ice and Caboose grabbed their personal gear from the jeep's storage compartment. Fortunately for them they packed light and all they had to grab were their personal weapons. As a rule of thumb, Ice and Frank had everyone who joined the Spartans train with 'old fashioned' weapons so that everyone could handle hand-to-hand combat with lethal force if the need ever arose. During this training, Ice had taken to wielding an old-fashioned battle-axe with a .45 pistol while Caboose had become deadly with a combination of a laser pistol and a mace. While these weapons of lore were almost never seen nowadays, they gave the Spartans a tremendous psychological advantage over most opponents in close-quarter brawls. Strapping on a long knife each, pocketing a handheld communications set, and grabbing their weapons, Ice and Caboose started booking it towards the nearest police station, nearly 3 kilometers down the road.

A few dozen angry citizens came around the corner as Ice and Caboose started down the road. Shouts of "Get the murderers" could be heard as most hurried to catch the two mercenaries as a handful of people went back to get more unruly anti-Kurita protesters. Without warning, the sound of shots rang out and echoed down the street as bullets kicked up concrete at the feet of Ice and Caboose. At least one protester must have smuggled in a firearm to the rally. "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! Running, running, running!" shouted Caboose as one bullet tore a hole in the leg of his pants, barely missing his calf. Ice grabbed a hold of Caboose's arm and hauled him down another side street to get out of the line of fire.

The pair of red-shirted mercenaries emerged onto a main thoroughfare and immediately took off towards the protection of the police station and government buildings in the distance. Ice grabbed the radio out of his pocket and dialed into the frequency used by the Spartan command center. "Thermopylae Base, this is Ice, come in." "Ice, it's Rommy. What's up?" "I'm not even going to ask why you are in the communications center, chica. Have a major problem here in the form of a busted jeep and at least a couple hundred very angry Davionists on our heels for driving past when someone was killed. I need you to get a hold of the downtown police station and tell them we're a little over two and a half klicks west of them and need help. If you have to get Sergeant Jackman and the infantry out here, do it. Make it fast. We're on foot and they're catching up. No sign of any police…shots ring out Crap. Gotta go Rommy. Get help here fast!" "Roger chief. Hang on, we'll get you."

-------break--------

**Thermopylae Base,  
Marduk, Draconis Combine  
December 30, 3058**

Leslie 'Rommy' Witters was in a bit of a bind at the moment. Wedged in the base's communication center, she had just received a call from Ice and Caboose practically begging for help to escape a very pissed-off crowd. The two of them were at least a 25-30 minute trip at flank speed for even the fastest of the Spartans' assets. "Damn those boys and the trouble they cause" muttered Rommy as she sprinted out the door and down the hall.

---break---

Sergeant Charles Jackman was having a blast, though not literally…at least not this time. He had the day off and had spent most of the afternoon hanging around the mess hall playing cards with Marzipan, Frog, and Mobius. Most people probably would not have called it playing cards, though, since Jackman was wiping the floor with the three mechwarriors. In the span of 90 minutes, he had won over 500 C-bills and was just about to take a pot worth another 100 when Rommy came rushing into the hall. "Jackman! Suit up. We need 3 of your battle armor squads and both foot platoons. We leave in 10 minutes. Frog, mech hanger, now! Mount up and head into town…Ice and Caboose are in way over their heads. Marzipan, mount up and make best speed into town. Mobius, get the base perimeter secured and set up patrols." A collective 'shit' could be heard from the card players as everyone scrambled to their assignments.

Within 8 minutes, 3 of the company's hovercraft were speeding towards New Pontiac with Rommy and both platoons of unarmored troops. The hovercraft carrying the platoon of battle-armor as well as most of Lightning Lance and Marzipan were only minutes behind. At this rate, Ice and Caboose would have to hold on for almost 25 minutes before any help from the Spartans would arrive.

Grabbing a headset from one of the cockpit crew, Rommy pushed her way into the communications seat and brought up the Thermopylae comm. center. "Rommy here. Connect me to the downtown New Pontiac Police Station. Standard comm. protocol alpha." "Roger Rommy. You are connected now"

"New Pontiac Police, Officer Jameson speaking. How may I help you?" "Officer Jameson, this is Lieutenant Witters of the Stuart's Spartans Mercenary command. We have two of our officers under attack by a crowd of protestors approximately 2.5 klicks west of your station. They could use some help if you get my meaning." "Sorry Lieutenant, we don't have any reports from our officers monitoring the protest that there's any activity of that sort going on. I can send a patrol out to double check the situation, but at this point I don't have the officers or the authorization to send a larger group…most of our officers are already monitoring the protest." "Damnit Jameson, we had a direct call for help that they were being chased by a large number of pissed off protesters. If you can't or won't do anything about this, then we will. Good day." With that, Rommy cut off the comm. channel.

Hitting another button, Rommy reconnected to the communications center at Thermopylae Base. "Patch me through to the Governor's office and stay at protocol alpha." "Patched through to his office, go ahead ma'am" came the response a minute later.

"Lieutenant Witters, what can I do for you today?" "Governor Atkins, Captain Olsen and Lieutenant Kastor are currently being chased through downtown New Pontiac by an angry crowd of Davionists and your police are doing nothing to stop the crowd or protect our officers. They deny anything is happening and refuse to take the matter seriously. If you don't do anything about it, we will." "Now Lieutenant, there's no need to make accusations or threats. I am informed of any large disturbance like the rowdy crowd you claim is running rampant…" Rommy him off without any qualms "Damnit Atkins, two officers that are charged with protecting this planet are fighting for their lives mere kilometers from your office. Since your police are obviously of no help, the Spartans are currently on their way to New Pontiac to save our brethren. If you won't do anything to save them, then we will! And mark my words, we don't do crowd control, so if we get involved, it's not going to be pretty and you will not like the results and consequences." "Now see here, Lieutenant…" Rommy cut off the comm. channel and, with it, the Governor's indignant ranting. 'Hang in there guys, we're on our way' she thought as the Spartan rescue team raced towards the city.

--------break---------

Ice and Caboose had been running for a good 15 minutes in an attempt to outpace the angry crowd of Davionists hell-bent on tearing them to pieces. "Ice, if we run much further, we're not gonna have anything left to fight with. They just keep gaining." "I know brother, I know" huffed Ice as he scanned the street for a place to hide or obstacles to use to slow down the crazed crowd.

Without warning, a trio of hovertrucks speed into the next intersection filled with angry people armed with knives, pipes, sticks…an assortment of weaponry that looked typical of any street-gang across the Inner Sphere. "Shit" yelled Ice. Pulling Caboose along behind him, Ice ran into the nearest alleyway…a dead end. "Who the hell designs these cities?" cried Ice. "Way to go genius, just where I wanted to die…in a dank alley surrounded by walls and armed rioters" came the sarcastic reply from Caboose as about a dozen armed civilians blocked the mouth of the alley and started to close in…

-------- chapter break ----------

There you go peeps, another exciting chapter with yet another evil cliffy. Give me reviews and let me know what you think. Til next time, AP out…


	5. Chapter 3: The dumb and the dying

I don't own it…yada yada yada…as is usual in my works, there is a plethora of coarse language, so if you are offended by cursing, then don't read.

-------Story time-------

Chapter 3: The dumb and the dying.

**Downtown New Pontiac,  
Marduk, Draconis Combine  
December 30, 3058**

Last time on Stuart's Spartans: Backstab…  
_"Without warning, a trio of hovertrucks speed into the next intersection filled with angry people armed with knives, pipes, sticks…an assortment of weaponry that looked typical of any street-gang across the Inner Sphere. "Shit" yelled Ice. Pulling Caboose along behind him, Ice ran into the nearest alleyway…a dead end. "Who the hell designs these cities?" cried Ice. "Way to go genius, just where I wanted to die…in a dank alley surrounded by walls and armed rioters" came the sarcastic reply from Caboose as about a dozen armed civilians blocked the mouth of the alley and started to close in…"_

"Time to pay Kurita scum" growled a rather large man wielding a portion of metal pipe. He was followed by a dozen other men armed with whatever they could find in the alley. "Bring it on lard-ass" taunted Caboose. The large man sprinted forward and raised the pipe to attempt to crush Caboose's head, only to be stopped short with Ice's battleaxe lodged in his chest. Ice pulled his weapon free with a gurgle and spurt of blood from the gaping hole in the thug's chest. "I don't want to have to hurt you people. We didn't even do anything to you so just turn around and walk away, unless you want to wind up in a morgue" said Ice as he looked at the growing crowd at the mouth of the dead-end alley.

"You yourself are a Davion citizen, yet you side with these Kurita pieces of filth to occupy a world once held by Davion forces. I do not care if it was you or the militia, or the governor himself, but a Kurita sympathizer just shot and killed a peaceful speaker. You sympathize with Kurita so now you must pay" said another man as he stepped forward to pick up the pipe dropped by 'lard-ass'. Taking a threatening step closer to the two Spartan officers, the speaker swung and managed to land a glancing blow to Ice's arm only to suddenly drop as a shot from Caboose's laser pistol burned through his face. Taking that as a cue, the rest of the group rushed in without hesitation, only eager to punish the mercenaries for joining Kurita.

Sparing a second to glance at each other, Ice and Caboose simultaneously said "3" and rushed to meet the crowd. Another protestor fell to the ground dead as Caboose's laser pistol lashed out again, burning a hole into his chest, while a woman wielding a knife was dropped by Ice's pistol shot to the forehead with his .45 caliber gun. Ice was knocked over by a very large man with a stick, but was saved from further damage by Caboose caving in the man's skull with his mace. In a scant 30 seconds, a dozen armed protestors lay dead or dying in the alley. The show of lethal force was enough to cause the ever growing crowd to pause in the street and not flood in to attack their 'targets'.

"Caboose, if we don't make it, I just wanted to let you know you were a brother to me." "Thanks guy, felt the same. And I'm sorry for stealing your 40 year old rum and spreading pictures and videos of you from when you were on your whiskey bender" replied the tanker. "That was you? You ass! I always did wonder where that bottle went and who the hell took those pictures." Any reply was cut off by another batch of foolhardy and/or adventurous souls entered the alley to try to finish off the two trapped mercs.

More and more protesters entered into the alley only to be met by gun shots or the lethal steel of Ice's axe or Caboose's mace. Despite their growing casualties, the crowd's anger had taken control and they kept surging into the narrow corridor of death. Both Spartans were doing their best to stay alive. They knew that if they stopped or fell, then it was as good as over, they would likely die at the hands of the vengeful protestors. It had been nearly 10 minutes of close-quarters fighting, though, and it was beginning to take its toll. Both men were getting tired from fatigue and the various minor injuries they had managed to accumulate ranging from bruises and scrapes to moderate cuts and abrasions that continued to bleed out.

The only respite came from the fact that in nearly 10 minutes of combat, there were almost 40 bodies that now clogged the narrow passage, limiting the numbers that could be brought against the Spartans at any given moment. However, there was only so much assistance a clogged entrance could offer. Another protester, armed with a gun of her own, managed to make her way past the barrier of bodies. The first hint of threat from her that either Spartan picked up on was Caboose's cry of pain as a bullet tore through his right calf, narrowly avoiding any bones. A mere second later, another bullet grazed his torso and continued onward to punch through Ice's chest as he was bending to retrieve his axe from a corpse, entering just under the left collarbone and leaving a spray of blood on the wall behind him. Immediately redirecting his attention to the biggest threat, Caboose, put her down with a shot of his laser pistol to the woman's throat.

Another push of people, another sent to the ground from a mace hit to the head. Caboose managed to get between the crowd and Ice to buy his partner time to get back to his feet. Apparently not much time was needed as Ice's axe suddenly appeared in a man's face, followed by Ice himself, fighting now with just his right arm. They were being pushed back towards the end of the alley. Between the never ending rush of bodies and the pure exhaustion starting to creep in, Ice and Caboose had only minutes left, and if they were forced to the back wall, then it was game over.

Without warning the ground began to shake with a steady rhythm. Shouts rose from the mass of people clogging the street and a few screams could be heard from some of the more frightened. Out of nowhere, a loud voice boomed through the air "Back away from the alley now if you value your lives. You alright in there Chief?" It was Bravo and his 20 ton _Fireball_. It was music to Ice's ears to hear the gruff freelancer bearing news of their salvation from a nasty death.

---------break--------------

The hovercraft slid around the corner to find Bravo's mech and a few hundred angry and armed people, at least. Rommy paled at the sight, especially knowing what odds Ice and Caboose would have been facing. Through the cockpit shield she could hear Bravo calling out to her colleagues over his mech's loudspeakers. Cueing up the external speakers on the hovercraft, Rommy addressed the crowd. "Back away from the alley now or you WILL be met with lethal force."

Around her, the trio of Spartan hovercraft disgorged their cargo of troops. The squads took up positions between the craft and the masses and began to edge their way towards the alley to cut off crowd access. Apparently armed and trained mercenary soldiers backed by vehicles and a mech wasn't enough to intimidate some people. Shots rang out, dropping some of the Spartan infantry while a pair of grenades went off, killing and wounding a number of civilians and mercs. "All Spartans return fire" yelled Rommy over the speakers as she grabbed a sub-machinegun and swung out of the cockpit and pulled herself halfway out of a top hatch.

Picking out a general area from which the gunfire was coming, Rommy brought her sub-machinegun to her shoulder and hosed fire into that part of the crowd. Screams of the wounded started to fill the air as bullets and lasers from the Spartan forces tore into the crowd and mowed down the outer edge like grass before a scythe. Climbing out of the hatch, Rommy dropped herself down to the ground and began to work her way towards the alley, taking down any hostiles as she moved. Coming to the alley, Rommy worked her way around the piled bodies to find Caboose covered in blood splatter from bashing people with his mace. Behind Caboose, Rommy could see Ice leaning heavily against the wall, his shirt clinging to him and a growing puddle of blood under his feet.

"Oh shit! You guys really got into it this time, didn't you? MEDIC! We'll get you two patched up" said Rommy as she continued to survey the alley. Once a pair of medics started to patch up the 'defenders of the alley', Rommy emerged back onto the street and began to bark out orders. "You, Sergeant, get two squads at each end of the block. Set up shooters on top of these buildings if you need to. Get the rest of the troops policing the ground for weapons and anyone still alive." Saluting, the man ran off to execute the orders. Grabbing a headset, Rommy dialed up Lightning Lance's frequency. "Bravo, where're the rest of your peeps?" "Frog and Hawk will be here inside 5. Beers, Arcturos, and Marzipan will be here in another 12." "Roger. Get set up at the western intersection with two squads from Alpha Platoon. When they get here, set up Frog and Hawk as you see fit. If any of the hostiles return, I don't want them to get close enough to use grenades again…that has cost us too much already."

--------break---------

EMS and the Police showed up mere minutes later. After being driven off, someone in the crowd must have called in the incident. "Who the hell is in charge here?" screamed one of the policemen. Apparently the incident was large enough to draw out the downtown station chief. "I am. What do you want? Because we are pretty busy right now if you hadn't noticed" called Rommy as she walked over from the shadow of a hovercraft where the Spartan wounded were receiving treatment. "What the f# were you thinking? You are under arrest for the murder of these civilians." Not a smart thing to say or attempt in the middle of an area teaming with mercenaries on high alert. The sounds of safeties being flicked off were audible as over a dozen soldiers leveled their guns at the Chief. Beers must have heard the exchange of words as well and moved his 40 ton _Cicada_ towards the gaggle of police officers and leveled his autocannon in their direction.

Seeing that the same firepower that killed all of the 'civilians' now leveled at him, the Chief started to stutter and panic. The only thing that saved him from further embarrassing himself was the arrival of Governor Adkins' limo. Stepping out onto the street, Adkins took a moment to view the scene and was visibly shaken at the carnage. "I told you to keep your people out of the city, Lieutenant. You ignored that order and look what happened!" said Adkins in a soft, yet angry voice.

"No Governor, you listen here. I told you what was happening down here and I told you the consequences of forcing us to get involved. We are neither trained or armed to deal with civilians and when those same 'civilians' open fire on us with guns and drop grenades on our troops, we are going to respond as quickly and with as much force as we can. Get that through your think head Adkins, you have no jurisdiction over the Spartans. We are willing to cooperate, but you better damn well get your head out of your ass and make sure that situations like this don't happen again. Your 'civilians' attacked our officers with intent to kill. They succeeded in killing some of our personnel. They paid the price because your police were incompetent enough to let them run free in the first place. We are here to aid in the defense of your planet on a contract approved by the Coordinator himself. Now you…" Rommy was cut off as a car sped past and someone sprayed bullets at the area, dropping another pair of soldiers and a handful of police officers. As it attempted to flee the area, the car found itself under the guns of Arcturos and his 70 ton _Cataphract_. A loud report of autocannon firing could be heard and a stream of shells tore through the car as a quartet of medium lasers sliced through the frame and torched the interior and its occupants, sending the flaming remains slamming into the side of a building.

"Do you see now what it is that we have faced today, governor? Get your facts straight before you run your mouth." "I'm afraid I'm still going to have to support Chief Warrik's order to bring you in Lieutenant." A new voice joined the heated exchange as Ice and Caboose limped over. "You will do no such thing, Governor Adkins" said Ice. "Lieutenant Witters was acting under my orders to pull us out of this situation. If you are going to attempt to take anyone in for this, it's going to be me. Key word of that statement is 'attempt'. See, because of your negligence today, Lieutenant Kastor and I have personally killed over 40 people today with these very weapons" he said gesturing to the guns, mace, and axe that hung off their belts. "If you think that we are going to submit to your jurisdiction on this matter, I won't hesitate to add a few more numbers to my tally for today."

"Captain Olsen, you are treading on very thin ground at the moment. Continue and I promise you I will enjoy personally seeing to it that your contract is cancelled, your equipment is confiscated, and you are escorted off planet." Looking over at Caboose, Ice nodded to him and said "Kastor, would you be so kind? My shoulder is still hurting too much for me to make it effective…" Grinning madly, Caboose leaned in and gave the Governor a hook to the side of his face that sent him crumpling to the ground. Viewing his handy work, Caboose piped in "Take your self righteousness and shove it up your ass you pompous prick" and then spat on Adkins' shirt. "Thank you Caboose. Much appreciated. I wouldn't have been able to get that same effect. Chief Warrik, you best see to getting the Governor back to his office before he comes to further personal harm out here. After all, the rioters could return at any time." Giving a curt nod, the Chief gestured to his officers and they proceeded to haul the unconscious Governor back to his limo…


	6. Chapter 4: Never Forget

AN: Thank you, thank you…I know I'm actually on a relative roll getting these chapters out…keep sending any reviews cause they help me figure out where to go with all this and it motivates me to keep it coming. Once again, I don't own anything but the plot and original characters. Don't read if you dislike strong language

--------booyah---------

**Thermopylae Base  
****Marduk, Draconis Combine  
****January 2, 3059**

It was a breezy yet humid evening around Thermopylae Base. As the sun continued to set, the noises of the jungle began to increase as the nocturnal predators and prey came out of their hiding places to resume life as normal. There was something going on out of the ordinary, however.

Just outside the base gates, there stood all off-duty Spartan personnel at attention. Before them, there stood a dozen piles of wood, stacked so that there was a flat surface on top. On each of these flat portions, there lay a body, dressed in the khaki and red uniforms of the Stuarts Spartans. Each body also wore a blood-red cloak and hands were folded over their chests and clasped around the hilt of an ancient Greek style sword.

Ice, Rommy, and Caboose made their way to a small raised platform by the pyres. Looking out at his command, Ice swept his gaze over the 100+ soldiers, pilots, techs, and other people in the Spartans employ. At rigid attention and dressed in the same uniforms as their dead comrades, there was nothing but stony silence and somber gazes. The three days since their impromptu assault on New Pontiac have given the Spartans little respite. It was difficult losing comrades in any conflict, but the loss of almost half a platoon of troopers on top of the stress of multiple days on high alert had hit a number of the Spartans hard.

Stepping to the front of the platform, Ice began to speak. "My brethren Spartans, this hallowed evening we are gathered to observe the passing of our comrades at arms. Three days ago they lay down their lives in order to rescue fellow Spartans. Their courage and sacrifice have brought honor to themselves, their names, and all of us. I need not say much, for their actions have spoken far greater than any words we utter here tonight. Remember what they have done. While their bodies may fade, the knowledge of their bravery will not, and so they will continue on." Stepping down from his spot, Ice took a torch offered to him by Rommy. Walking down the line of platforms and bodies, Ice lit each pyre and passed the torch back to an aide. Turning once again to face the Spartans, Ice solemnly spoke once more. "As we were born from ash and dust, so we return. May these honorable warriors find eternal glory with whatever god in which they believed. Honor their sacrifice and fight the fight their passing has permitted you to go on to experience." Turning back to face the burning pyres, he once again spoke, "Battalion, attention! Salute!" Smartly, the multitude of Spartans snapped salutes towards their deceased comrades and watched as the fires burned and the sun set…

---------break---------

**Thermopylae Base  
****Marduk, Draconis Combine  
****January 20, 3059**

"…Captain Olsen, you do realize that you have made an enemy out of Governor Adkins, don't you?"

"I do, _Tai-sa_ Toriyama. Unfortunately he left me no choice in the matter. Nor did the people he is responsible for. Lieutenant Kastor and I were attacked without provocation and would have been killed if we had not taken the actions we did. The Governor wants to punish us for something we had to do to survive, and he doesn't even have jurisdiction over the Spartans. The only two people that we are beholden to in this contract are the district commander and the Coordinator himself. We are to work in coordination and cooperation with you and your militia, but the Governor is not in our contracted chain of command. It was out of courtesy alone that I was trying to keep him in the loop. If Adkins desires to follow through with his threats of retribution in order to give the populous 'justice', then he is going to have to come to this base and kill every last defender to do so…and that is not something that he can afford to do."

"I realize this Captain, I do. And I sympathize for your situation as well. I likely would have done the same if I had been in your position. The inhabitants of New Pontiac in particular have always held strong Davionist leanings, even after we took the planet in the 4th Succession War. There are just not that many Combine citizens on planet and so most of the government, and even my own militia, are Davionists or descendants of Davion citizens. I don't know who is causing these problems, but whatever group of people I carrying out these attacks, they continue to place evidence that traces back to the Kuritan military and their targets keep falling. Not three days ago there was another assassination of an outspoken Davionist businessman. A Kurita made RPG was put right through his windshield by someone dressed in standard uniform…in broad daylight nonetheless. The people are angry, Captain, and it is only going to get worse."

"Have there been any leads on these troublemakers?"

"None. They cover their tracks too well. All of the incidents have been perpetrated by someone in Kurita uniform using Kurita military-grade weapons and targeting prominent Davion loyalists. All that I can say is that it isn't one of mine. During all three attacks, all of my troops were accounted for and their whereabouts away from the attacks confirmed."

"And the press being the press and Adkins being Adkins, this isn't going away. Damn that man and his ability to suck up to the media. If the latest news reports are to be believed, then there's some pretty strong animosity against the portion of the militia with Kurita heritage. And certainly no love lost between the people of New Pontiac and my Spartans. From what I've heard, our departure off planet is being demanded and there are threats that any Spartan seen in the city will be killed on sight. All of this could have been avoided if Adkins had listened and taken action. Hell, I have the call to his office recorded! Lieutenant Witters gave him fair warning that we weren't trained to handle civilians and that the shit would hit the fan if we had to respond. He ignored it and now personally blames me and my two Lieutenants for killing almost two hundred people."

That caused _Tai-sa_ Toriyama to raise an eyebrow. "You have that all on recording? That will be a valuable piece of evidence, my friend. Keep it safe and keep copies well hidden. I would not put it past the Governor to attempt to destroy it after news gets out of its existence. He seems to enjoy placing blame on you and your Lieutenant Kastor for personally killing over 50 civilians as well as Lieutenant Witters for ordering the killing of more. For what it's worth, you have my support and my militia will take no part in any of the Governor's plots for you. He will have to deal with this 'internal affair' by himself."

Pouring both of them some whiskey, Ice then raised his glass in tribute. "To military brethren and the crap we put up with. Cheers."

A buzzer rang on Ice's desk. "Captain Olsen, we have an HPG message package for you."

"Roger, I'll be there in just a moment. My apologies _Tai-sa_, I must attend to unit matters…you understand how command is."

Nodding, "I understand Captain. I will take my leave and return to supervise my own command. Thank you for your hospitality and best of luck."

---break---

Walking into the communication center, Ice was immediately waved over to an empty chair in the corner. "It just arrived for you, sir, from Outreach."

"Thank you, I'll view it from here." Typing in a few command and punching in an activation code, Ice brought up the message onto the monitor. It was his cousin Frank, founder of the Spartans. Frank had stayed behind when the Spartans had departed for Marduk. The plan had been to use the extra time to raise more funds, acquire more software, and hopefully hire more pilots.

"Jake, it's Frank, if you haven't figured it out by my voice and the image you're looking at right now, dummy. I'm sending this on January 18th, 3059 so hopefully it reaches you in a timely matter" the figure of Frank glared off-screen, presumably at some ComStar personnel. "Anyway, I hope that you are healing nicely, and yes, I have heard all about your jaunt in New Pontiac…that news is all over MercNet right now. It's making some of the other commands edgy that Kurita boarder worlds might be unstable, especially with most of the military forces of all the Houses occupied elsewhere. There've been rumors spreading that a major offensive is being launched from the other side of the Combine and into Smoke Jaguar territory, but nothing has been confirmed yet since Kurita is clamping down on news releases. Hell, even that a rumor got out at all is amazing.

Things are going well on Outreach and I'm actually ahead of schedule. Managed to hire another few lances' worth of mech pilots and even got our oh-so-generous-sponsors to build some nasty little prototype vehicles for us…Kastor is gonna start drooling when he sees these babies. Just wanted to spend the extra C-bills to let you know how things are looking over here. I'll see what I can do to expand on our original estimates and goals. Should have transport secured and leave this neck of the Chaos March sometime before mid-March. Not sure if I'll spend any more to let you know when, but we'll definitely see you before mid-summer. Take care of yourself, little cousin. And don't let Raven bang up my mech…might not be able to pilot her into combat anymore, but she's still mine. Raven breaks it, she buys it. Oh, and tell Kastor I like his right hook, but he needs to lean into it a bit more…that clip made it on the news and has been a favorite in the recruiting hall for a week or so now, haha. Later Jake."

"Well bloody hell…" muttered Ice. Getting up, Ice headed out towards the gym. He needed to keep rehabbing his left shoulder. Stupid bullets, stupid rioters…

--------end chapter----------

AN: Thanks for the review Pchadi0. Went back and fixed the paragraphs for easier viewing pleasure. Keep the reviews coming peeps. Will be gone all of next week so I'll try to have a chapter ready when I get back.


	7. Chapter 5: Playing dirty

AN: Sorry for the delay in updating…my family vacation turned into a bust as far as computer access went so I didn't have a chance to work on this story. Anywho, keep reviewing and reading. As usual, I don't own most of this stuff and whatnot. Have fun peeps.

Also, pardon the fact that I can't translate people's height into meters…heh.

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Chapter 5

----.-------

**Thermopylae Base Gymnasium  
Marduk, Draconis Combine  
January 30, 3059**

Swipe. Block. Jab. Duck. Roll. Ice got back to his feet just in time to take a shot straight to the jaw from his sparring partner. If it hadn't been for the padded gloves they were both using, Ice might have been knocked straight onto his ass. As was, Ice reeled back a few steps and then quickly moved forward to kick his partner, Rommy, in the shin, earning a yelp of pain and surprise and giving Ice the opening to slam his gloved hand into her gut. Doubling over, Rommy turned her instinctual reaction to a sucker punch into a forward roll, past Ice and back onto her feet. Taking advantage of her positioning, Rommy slammed a foot into the back of Ice's knee, sending him to the ground. With amazing agility for someone his size, Ice hopped back to his feet and brought his 6'2" frame back into fighting stance.

Jabbing towards Rommy's face, Ice found his left arm caught and Rommy's left hand coming across and hitting him in right over the bullet wound below his collarbone. Gasping in pain and getting angry, Ice shot forward and grabbed Rommy by the throat with his right hand. Lifting her high above the mats, Ice then slammed her to the ground with a classis choke-slam. Releasing her, Ice stood back up to take a few steps back. He never got that far. Rommy's leg shot up from the mat, catching Ice right in the jewels and sending him dropping to the map in agony.

"That…was…very…cheap…Rommy." Gasped Ice as he lay curled in the fetal position.

"Serves you right, chief. After all, you did kick me in the shin AND choke-slam me" came the sharp retort as Rommy got back to her feet rubbing her neck. "You know I'm not above playing dirty when other people start things."

"I know, but you punched my gunshot wound. Now help me up wench" said Ice with a pained lopsided grin. That comment earned an evil glare and an 'accidental' kick to Ice's midsection. Tucking a few lose strands of her long black hair behind an ear, Rommy extended her hand out to help haul her 107 kilogram commander back onto his feet. "Thanks Rom. Now if you would be so kind, I think I need a ride back to my room and a bunch of ice-packs" said Ice as he remained doubled over to as to keep his feet while he pain and hot-flashes passed.

Rolling her eyes, Rommy tossed Ice's arm over her shoulder and helped haul the Captain towards the front door. On the way out, they paused to see how Caboose was fairing against Lieutenant Jackman, who happened to be one of the largest infantrymen that the Spartans employed. It appeared that Caboose was holding his own against the 6'7" beast that was opposite him. Calling upon his experience with Greco-Roman wrestling, Caboose caught Jackman in a single-leg takedown before being violently shoved off with a kick from Jackman's free leg. Getting back to his feet, although clearly favoring his right leg, Jackman threw a strong punch at Caboose. Dodging to the side, Caboose turned it into a glancing blow and then used the momentum to deliver an absolutely vicious spinning kick to the side of Jackman's head, knocking the man out cold and sending him to the mat in a heap.

Seeing Jackman brought down by the tanker brought a chorus of groans from most of the small crowd that had gathered. There were, however, a few loud cheers as Caboose limped to the edge of the mat, took a bow, and hobbled off to the showers. Along with the cheers came a wicked smile from Mobius as he collected handfuls of C-bills from those unfortunate enough to wager with the mechwarrior on the outcome.

Rolling his eyes and chuckling at his people's antics, Ice continued his journey over to the jeep outside the building. A short and silent trip across the complex passed and Ice found himself physically shoved out of the vehicle by hi 5'6" Latino Lieutenant.

What'd you do that for, chica?" asked Ice as he admired the blue sky from his position on the ground.

"I did it because you're too lazy to get off your ass after the beating I handed you" Rommy replied with a laugh. "Now haul yourself to your room and I'll be back in a little bit with your icepacks."

"Alright, alright, I'm going. Just hurry back with those icepacks, chica" grumbled Ice as he slowly got to his feet and worked his way towards the building entrance.

"And don't call me 'chica', ya jerk!" shouted Rommy as she slammed the jeep into gear and peeled out towards the med. center.

-----.--------

Ice was settled into his room nicely. He had his feet propped up, his icepacks were doing a marvelous job numbing his pains, it was quiet, and he had a small glass of 200 year old whiskey. It was rare he indulged himself in his private stock, but it had been a hard day of getting his ass kicked by his second in command.

Without warning the door burst open, startling Ice and throwing him off balance…which sent the chair to the ground and his mostly empty glass of whiskey to the ground. "Damnit Rommy! That was my private stock!"

"Sorry boss, but this urgent. I have to get you to the comm. center A.S.A.P." said the Lieutenant as she stalked over to Ice, grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him out the door.

"What the hell is going on?" asked a very confused Captain.

"We have both the Governor and _Tai-sa_ Toriyama on separate lines and they both want to talk to you urgently. Not sure what Toriyama has to say, but Adkins looks smug so he's undoubtedly got something up his sleeve."

"For some reason that doesn't make me very comfortable, and I don't think that's the whiskey's doing. I'll head on to the comm. center and take care of this. You go get Caboose and Jackman. Have them get their people ready and mounted up in case there is anything. Oh! Get Grogg and Tribal too. Have them mount up their lances and power up, but don't leave the hangers yet, we want that element of surprise. You take charge of the mech forces but keep it quiet. No base alarms or sudden movements to make anyone suspicious. I'd bet anything that there's a satellite observing us right now and our techies haven't found all of the monitoring devices yet."

"Roger boss, I'll keep it quiet." said Rommy as she hurried off to the barracks and mess hall to gather the required personnel.

Taking it up to a jog, Ice reached the comm. center in mere moments. Hurrying through the halls and down a flight of stairs, he pushed his way through a pair of swinging doors and strode into the room that never slept. It was in this room, underneath the administrative building, that every aspect of the base's communications was handled.

Hurrying through the room, Ice went through another set of doors and into the soundproof CIC center tucked into back of the communications floor. Grabbing a seat, Ice acknowledged the aide and had her bring up the transmition from Toriyama.

"_Tai-sa_, what can I do for you this fine day?"

"Captain Olsen. It is not so much what you can do for me today, but rather what I am doing for you. The terrorist activities that have plagued New Pontiac in the recent weeks have spread to other large cities, particularly those with a very small minority of Combine citizens. There has been enough public outcry and rage that Adkins has been making moves to gather more power for himself. I have not been able to reach the militia base at New Baltimore on the coast, either. All I can tell you is that I hear rumors that Adkins is attempting to placate the people and pin at least some of this blame on you. Watch yourself, Captain, and keep one eye on your base's sensors."

Bowing to the screen Ice replied "Thank you, _Tai-sa_. You have been more generous than ever with this vital information. If things become too bad outside, the Spartans may have to hole-up here to ensure the continued safety of the Norse facility. Though if you find yourself in a difficult position, I will do what I can to assist in whatever way you need. However, I regret that I am keeping our 'dear' governor waiting on another line and I believe he might just have some news that might be important to me."

"Understood, Captain. This is a secure line directly between our outposts, so call if there is anything important. Best of luck." With that, the militia commander signed off, leaving Ice a moment to compose himself before dealing with Adkins.

With a heavy sigh, Ice motioned to the aide to activate the channel on which the Governor waited. "Governor Adkins, what can I do for you this evening?"

"Don't play that game with me Olsen. Ever since you and your ragtag bunch set foot on my planet, you've been a destabilizing force. It wasn't until you showed up that these terrorists began to strike. Based on this correlation and the matter of your murder of dozens of civilians a month ago, I am exercising my authority to order you to stand down, surrender yourself for trial, and order your unit off-planet."

Rolling his eyes, Ice responded "I have told you before, Governor Adkins, that you have no authority over myself or my Spartans. My contract deals with two organizations that I am working for, Norse Battlemechs and the Coordinator's palace on Luthien. You are mentioned nowhere in my contract except as acknowledging you as planetary governor and 'asking' me to work with you where possible. I am under no obligation to listen to or obey any of the crap that comes out of your mouth. If you want me in custody or my unit off of Marduk, then you are going to have to do it by force…which your militia commander doesn't seem inclined to do and the Coordinator would not likely appreciate. I've tried to be cordial, Governor. I am not a person that loses him temper or patience quickly or easily, and yet I find myself at the end of both with you, sir. So unless you have something intelligent to say or contribute, then shut your mouth, take your 'orders' and shove them up your ass…"

"You listen here Olsen…I will have your insolent hide for this. You want me to force you? Then you have your wish…" sputtered Adkins as the governor's oversized face turned red with rage.

"…yeah sure, Adkins. Good day to you sir…" Ice retorted as he reached out and cut the connection himself.

Slamming his head onto the map table, Ice head out his hand and was given a headset to communicate with Rommy and the Spartans on standby.

"Can you hear me Rommy?"

"Yeah, what's the scoop, Ice?"

"Let's just say that Adkins did everything short of declare open war on us. He definitely threatened the use of force to get me and Caboose as well as force us off planet. With Toriyama not being able to reach his New Baltimore garrison, I have a feeling that Adkins has at least that part of the remaining militia under his sway. If memory serves, New Baltimore has two companies of mechs, five of armor, and a regiment worth of infantry."

"…Oh shit…that's not good at all if he has that garrison under his grubby little fingers. I'll get lance-level patrols out and set up…"

"Nix the patrols right now, Rommy. Have the troops go down to yellow alert. I want 4-hour shifts for each lance; pilots in their mechs, reactors banked, and ready to go within 3 minutes of any alert. Have Caboose move his tanks through the tunnel and set up in ambush site C. Double up the infantry sentries and then get some rest. We likely won't see Adkins play his cards tonight. Knowing him, he'll want to do it broad daylight for the best 'media coverage' and publicity. I'll set things up in the CIC and then I'm heading back to my bunk if anyone needs me."

"Roger Ice. Consider it done. Now go get some sleep; you sound exhausted…"

"You too Rommy. Ice, out." replied a weary mechwarrior as he handed back his head set and walked his way back to his bunk, lay down, and passed out within minutes.

------------End Chapter.-------------

AN: There you go people, another fun chapter full of violence, intrigue, and fun. Hope you enjoy and like it enough to review for me. Thanks all. AP out…


	8. Chapter 6: Manipulations and brick walls

AN: Thank you all for bearing with me so far. Still keeping this story going so no worries about it being cancelled or put on hold. Anyway, here's chapter 6 for you.

-------.---------

**Outer Patrol Station, Zamas River Valley  
****15 kilometers east of Thermopylae Base  
Marduk, Draconis Combine  
February 2, 3059**

Three days of combat alert was starting to take its edge on the nerves of the Stuart's Spartans personnel. Taylor 'Tribal' Jones and his mixed lance currently had patrol duty in the Zamas River Valley. 15 kilometers east of Thermopylae Base, the Zamas provided a natural boundary and choke point for traffic as it ran southward. Although at a lower level than usual for this time of year, the Zamas was still deep enough to limit traffic to a pair of bridges with a handful of other locations suitable to fording mechs across its width.

Over the centuries, the Zamas had carved a 3 kilometer wide depression that served as a flood plain. The jungle and marshes dominating both sides, continuing sporadically for another 10 kilometers to the east while the west bank was a hodge-podge of terrain that funneled any sane traffic along the road to the west towards Norse. The only break in the trees, grasses, and swamps came in the form of the giant farms that sat perched on the small bands of solid ground along the river's banks. These farms provided much of the food that sustained Thermopylae Base and the Norse Battlemechs facility, but they also created an environment that was ideal for the patrolling and monitoring of the river.

Tribal and his lancemate Hollie 'Flyer' Ransom were currently in their mechs and perched on a small rise of land about 100 meters west of the Zamas River bridges. Colton 'Storm' Jones and the unit's former chief tech Dani 'Green' Klecha were split up on mobile patrol to cover the few local fords north and south of the bridges. As had become standard, Tribal started to count down the minutes until they were relieved by Grogg and his assigned mix of mechs for their four hour shift. It was already 13:47hrs and Hoplon Lance was due to be relieved at 14:00hrs.

"Tribal! I've got contacts 2 kilometers out. Ground vehicles and at least a lance of mechs, but they're grouped too tightly for me to get a good read at this distance." came the shout from Flyer in her _Firestarter_.

"Shit" came the startled response as Tribal jerked back to alertness after almost nodding off in his _Lineholder_. "Hoplon Lance, immediate recall to the Zamas River bridges. I repeat, IMMEDIATE recall to the bridges; we have incoming." Switching frequencies, "Grogg, you had better be on your way. We have incoming at the bridge." Fumbling the switch over to Base-Command, "Thermopylae Base, this is Hoplon Lead. We have incoming ground vehicles and mechs at the Zamas River Bridges. Requesting confirmation of Orange Alert and mech assistance."

"Hoplon Lead, this is Thermopylae Command. Orange Alert confirmed. Spatha Patrol Alpha and Lightning Patrol Beta should arrive in 8 minutes. Scrambling base defenders as we speak. Expect Rain Lance and the remnants of Spatha and Lightning to arrive in 20 minutes. Lieutenant Witters will be arriving with Spatha to take charge of the situation. Do NOT let them cross the bridge and don't forget Orange Alert rules."

"Roger Command. We'll hold until reinforcements get here. Holpon Lead out." Looking out the side window of his cockpit, Tribal could see Green's _Hunchback_ and Storm's _Warhammer_ making their way back in from the north. Based on visual guesstimates, it'd be close which group arrived at the bridge first.

"Listen up Hoplons, we are on Orange Alert so we have to wait for them to fire before we can. Hollie, park your _Firestarter_ in the middle of the northern bridge since the auxiliary. I'll park on the main southern bridge. Bro, you get the north bridge as well. Dani, you're with me. Grogg and his bunch will be here inside 8, so we just have to hold until then. Rest of the crew is at least 20 out." A chorus of 'roger' came over the comms to answer Tribal's orders. Throttling up, Tribal and Hollie parked on the bridges and awaited the slow moving column that was steadily growing closer.

Dani and Storm pulled up to their assigned spots mere moments before the column reached the far end of the bridges. The column consisted of 6 trucks, most likely filled with soldiers or police. Escorting the trucks were two lances of mechs, one in Police colors and one bearing the symbols and emblems of the New Baltimore garrison. Tribal wasn't worried much about the lance of police mechs (two _Urban Mechs_, a _Jenner_, and a _Wolf Trap_) since they were lighter and had limited firepower, but the lance of militia mechs more than equaled the firepower at his disposal. Lined up at the head of the column stood a 60 ton _Grand Dragon_, a 60 ton _Rifleman_, a 45 ton clan _Shadow Cat_, and a 50 ton _Huron Warrior_.

Stepping his _Lineholder_ forward, Tribal keyed to a general frequency "This is Sergeant Taylor Jones of the Stuart's Spartans Mercenary Battalion. Who are you and what business do you have with the Spartans or with Norse Battlemechs?"

The _Grand Dragon_ stepped forward, mimicking Tribal's motions. "This is Sergeant Gail Miller of the Marduk Militia. We are here upon request of the New Pontiac Police Department to serve a warrant for the arrest of Captain Jacob Olsen, Lieutenant Dan Kastor, and Lieutenant Leslie Witters, all of them from your unit. If you would be so kind as to move your lance aside, we will serve our warrants and be on our way back to New Pontiac."

Tribal found it very disturbing that Gail Miller was using her equivalent rank if she were in the Federated Suns Armed Forces rather than her official Draconis Combine rank. "Sergeant Miller, I'm afraid that I can not let you pass to serve your warrants. If you and your comrades would be willing to wait, I can have Lieutenant Witters here within 20 minutes to discuss this matter with you, although I can't guarantee Captain Olsen or Lieutenant Kastor."

"Our warrants permit us to cross into this district, although I will wait for Lieutenant Witters to arrive and surrender herself. Afterwards we will collect our other two prisoners" came an exasperated reply.

All of the sudden, Tribal's comms. clicked on and a message on a tight-beam transmission came through. "Tribal, it's Grogg. Do not reply to this message. I'm here with Nex, Beers, and Hawk. We're passive and hiding in the copse of trees 800 meters to the left rear of your position. If things go to shit, know we're waiting." With that, the comm. relay cut out.

Tribal let out a sigh of relief. With Grogg, Nex, Beers, and Hawk on station, that meant that Hoplon Lance now had some serious firepower backing it in the form of Grogg's 65 ton _Cestus_, Nex's 70 ton _Gallowglas_, Beers' 40 ton _Cicada_, and Hawk's 30 ton _Hermes_. Through his rearview cameras, Tribal thought he might have seen a glimpse of Arcturos' _Cataphract_ a few moments later, but he wasn't sure.

---.---

A little over ten minutes after Grogg's transmission, Rommy crested the far hill in her 100 ton _Berserker_ and was flanked by Bravo's 20 ton _Fireball_ and Frog's 25 ton _Dart_. Walking her mech down to the bridges, Rommy halted on the small crest that Tribal had occupied not half an hour before.

"This is Lieutenant Witters. There was something you wanted to discuss with me Sergeant Miller?"

"Yes Lieutenant, there is. I have a warrant here for your arrest regarding the order to fire upon civilians in New Pontiac on December 30. I ask of you to surrender yourself peacefully so that we won't have to resort to the use of force to apprehend you, Jacob Olsen, or Dan Kastor" replied Miller.

Rommy snorted into her microphone. "You want me to surrender to you, an AWOL member of the Marduk Militia, based on a warrant issued by someone with no jurisdiction over the Spartans on a matter that was self defense? Is this some sort of twisted joke? Am I on Candid Camera?"

"I assure you this is no joke Lieutenant. Just as I assure you that the New Baltimore garrison is not AWOL, we were just ordered by the higher authorities to relocate to a more needy area. Now I ask you to shut down your battlemech and climb out of your cockpit."

"Sorry sweet-checks, but that's not going to happen today" came a sarcastic, sugar-laden comment from Rommy. "If you want to arrest me, you are going to have to blast my mech out from under me and pry my cold fingers off of my controls. Bring it on."

The two lances of mechs began to move across the main span while the trucks disgorged infantry and lowered their canvas tops to reveal autocannon. Tribal and Dani stood their ground on the main span as Storm and Hollie fell back for a better angle. The _Grand Dragon_ tried to shoulder aside Tribal, rattling him around the cockpit, but his mech stood its ground…even as the _Shadow Cat_, _Jenner_, and _Urban Mechs_ leapt over his position. Trying to knock aside Tribal's _Lineholder_ again with the same result, Sergeant Miller's _Grand Dragon_ lashed out with its PPC and trio of medium lasers, burning away over a ton of armor. Unbalanced by the sudden loss of mass, Tribal's mech leaned over hard in an attempt to keep its footing, only to be brushed aside and onto its back as Sergeant Miller almost literally ran him over.

Seeing Tribal fired on and knocked to the ground, all hell broke loose from the Spartan mechs. Dani turned her _Hunchback_ and fired and alpha-strike at the police _Wolf Trap_, sheering off it's left leg at the femur just as a pair of PPC blasts from Storm's _Warhammer_ struck the same mech in the high torso, sending the mech skidding along the bridge. A blast from Rommy's PPC and two large pulse lasers sliced through one _Urban Mech_, forcing it to shut down before the reactor overloaded and blew. A hail of missiles, lasers, PPC, and gauss rounds struck the Militia/Police mechs as Grogg's Spatha Lance emerged from the woods in its entirety.

Returned fire from the rogue Militia force was very feeble after the display of firepower and the arrival of Grogg's heavy lance, which weighed almost as much as their entire force. The pilots of the _Rifleman_ and _Shadow Cat_ shut down their mechs and popped their cockpit canopies as a sign of surrender.

Ignoring her comrades, Sergeant Miller unleashed her weapons at Rommy's _Berserker_, burning off armor and paint, but causing no serious damage. What she got in return was Rommy accelerating her mech forward and boosting up to over 80 kph as she engaged her mech's MASC system. Rushing towards the _Grand Dragon_, Rommy extended her mech's arm and took a page out of Mobius' book, clothes-lining Miller's mech at a closing speed of over 120 kph. The impact jarred the _Berserker_ and spun it slightly, but the arm had caught the _Grand Dragon_ just below the cockpit and sent the mech flying back to the ground. Looking up at the sky and Rommy's PPC aimed directly at her cockpit, Miller shut down her mech and held her hands up in surrender.

"Base Command, this is Rommy. Send the salvage teams and tech crews to the Zamas Bridge. We're going to need another 7 mech pilots down here" called Rommy as she watched the infantry pile into their trucks across the river and flee without firing a shot.

"Roger Lieutenant. Salvage crews are on the way and should be there inside 30 minutes. We caught that all on camera from infantry outpost O4. Nice work out there Spartans…Base crew is treating all mech pilots down there to a few drinks at their earliest convenience. Thermopylae Base out."

----------------------.---------------------------

AN: was intending to make this a bit longer, but t'was a good breaking point so we're going to end this chapter here. Hope that everyone had as much fun reading it as I did writing. R&R.


	9. Chapter 7: Nice Surpirses

**Thermopylae Base  
Marduk, Draconis Combine  
February 2, 3059  
****1640 hours**

"Dear gawd Rommy! Please tell me you didn't buy all these" hollered Ice as Rommy climbed down from her _Berserker_.

"Nah, nothing like that chief. Our AWOL friends from the New Baltimore garrison decided that they wanted to arrest you, me, and Kastor for that December fiasco. Wanted it bad enough to knock Tribal on his ass, hah! Their infantry fled in trucks without a fight, but we have all 8 of their mechs in some form of functionality. _Wolf Trap_ has a busted leg, _Urban Mech_ needs a new reactor, and some pock marks in the armor of everything else, but once the Spatha and Lightning mechs showed themselves, those Militia suckers wanted nothing to do with a live firefight" replied Rommy as tech pilots walked the captured Militia mechs onto the parade ground to await an open mech gantry for repairs and rewiring.

Ice could only shake his head in amazement. Send Rommy to take care of some crazy rogue Militia, and she comes back with two lances of new mechs. "So is this it or do I have to worry about you bringing anything else home with you?"

"Funny you should mention that, Chief. Found 8 lost pilots to these 8 nice battlemechs and figured that since they are AWOL from Toriyama's Militia, then they're rogue. And if they're rogue, then we can squeeze them for info" said the smartass Lieutenant with a grin.

-----.-----

In the CIC, Ice sat in the corner, waiting for _Tai-sa_ Toriyama to make it to his nearest viewscreen. "Captain Olsen! This is certainly a surprise. Is there anything that I can do for you?"

"_Tai-sa_ Toriyama, thank you for receiving my call on such short notice. I'm afraid I must get straight to business for lack of time. Have you any word on the New Baltimore garrison?"

"I have not, Captain. As far as my intelligence can tell, their base has been abandoned, but there are no clear tracks to hint where they might have gone. I'm afraid my intelligence agents haven't been able to gather much success as of late. With tensions in New Pontiac as high as they are, I have confined all Militia personnel to the base. But seeing as my garrison has the highest percentage of Combine citizens in it, it's not surprising that this step has been necessary."

Nodding, Ice piped in "I believe I do indeed know where the New Baltimore garrison has gone, Tetsuo. Just this afternoon, one lance of mechs, bearing the New Baltimore insignia on their machines, attempted to assist a lance of New Pontiac police-mechs and around two companies of foot troops and officers in serving a warrant for the my arrest, as well as the arrest of Lieutenants Witters and Kastor. A mechwarrior Miller fired on one of my people and both lances were captured, along with the pilots. The infantry fled in their trucks without a fight."

Toriyama appeared shaken at the news of the lance of garrison mechs. "Yes, that was one of the lances posted to defend New Baltimore. This obviously means that I no longer have control over that garrison force, and I have very few ideas who might. That portion of the Militia has chosen their course. I wash my hands of them and their actions. My apologies that the situation has deteriorated that I can not control troops that I am supposed to command, Captain."

"Don't worry about it, _Tai-sa_, there was nothing you could do to prevent it. There are forces at work here that we can not possibly comprehend and with obsessed politicians in the mix, it does not bode well for anyone. You shouldn't bear any of the blame for this incident. Unfortunately we will have to detain your pilots in order to glean some information off of them while we can and try to unravel what it is that's going on."

"Understandable. I would do the same if I were in your position."

"I must get going since some of the pilots are beginning to wake up. I don't want to miss anything. Watch yourself, my friend. The police and the politicians are beginning to overstep their bounds and they will want to eliminate any perceived threat. Unfortunately that puts you and your people dead in their sights. If you need to fall back, should your position outside New Pontiac become untenable, we have room for you here. It's good ground with good support. They wouldn't be able to move us from this rock."

"I will keep that in mind and keep you informed. If you're right and my fears come true, this may need to happen sooner than I would like. I will try to task an extra satellite or two to cover the approach to the Zamas Bridges so you have more advanced warning next time. Take care, Captain."

-------.--------

Ice strode into the brig where all the pilots were being held in a drug-induced sleep. "Just in time Captain" said Sergeant Jackman, the Spartans' infantry commander. "We're just getting ready to bring out the first of the police pilots. None of the hard stuff for them since they're legit; it's those Militia deserters that are going to get the rough treatment."

Looking through the two way mirror, Ice could see the first pilot being dragged into the room and placed in a chair, still half-drugged. A back door opened for the interrogator and in walked Mobius of all people. At 5'11" Mobius was not an imposing figure, but he was a university-educated mechwarrior and knew his psychology…as well as most of the inner workings of at least half of the battalion's vehicles and equipment.

Mobius walked over to a side table and picked up a syringe. Turning back to the police mech pilot, Mobius injected him with the contents and waited as the man returned to consciousness.

"Welcome to Thermopylae Base, home of the Spartans. You can refer to me as Mobius. I'm here to ask you just a few questions before we decide what to do with you. If you cooperate, we may release you back to the New Pontiac authorities. If you are uncooperative, I might just have to turn you over to our Sergeant Jackman…and that man has a penchant for going through unarmed people with his power-armor."

Still somewhat affected by the drugs in his system and the implied threat of handing him over to be tortured, the pilot's expression changed from confusion to one of fear. "Y-y-you ca-can't do that! I'm an officer of the New Pontiac police! I have my rights…"

"Honestly pal, just between you and me, you are dealing with Mercenaries after all. They subscribe to their own laws, especially in a situation like this when they feel threatened. Let me explain their state of mind to you right now so that you know what you're facing. You have a couple hundred mercenary personnel bottled up on this side of the Zamas. Most of the citizenry of New Pontiac, as well as the planetary Governor, don't exactly like these people at the moment and wouldn't mind seeing something bad happen to them.

That's where you attempted to come in earlier. You and your companions were fodder to attempt to show force and to force the Spartans' hand. But that didn't quite work out as planned since your people fired first. When people fire on mercenaries unprovoked on their own turf, that really does offend them and they get very edgy. Edgy people have a tendency to pull triggers.

See, by you and your companions being in this situation, you've created quite a bind for the people that sent you, whoever they were. They knowingly sent you in under-equipped. They sent two lances of lighter mechs and a couple companies of ground troops against a base they built and made into an impregnable fortress that currently houses a pair of lances that outweighed your entire force individually. In their minds, best case was you would either succeed and capture your targets or else you would be fired upon and either turned back or killed, thus creating a troublesome political catastrophe for the Spartans. Their planned worst case scenario was likely you just getting turned back.

The situation you're in right now? The one with you initiating the aggression, failing in the mission, AND getting captured alive…this is the worst thing that could have happened for your bosses. You know why?" Seeing a shaking of the head, Mobius continued "Because you're alive, you lost a valuable battlemech, created a catastrophic event that now they have to deal with, and you might reveal who ordered all this. If this were anywhere but Thermopylae Base, you might have had at least one attempt on your life by now to make sure you didn't talk. Hell, if we end up sending you back to New Pontiac regardless if you talked or not, they still might kill you for failing and the off-chance you did blab.

I just know I sure as hell wouldn't want to be in your position when you get out of here. Now all I can really do here is ask questions, but I do know that we might be able to hammer out certain arrangements if you didn't want to go back to a potentially hazardous working environment in New Pontiac. All you have to do is to cooperate on all of this and have the desire to work something out with us. We may be mercenaries, but we do have some honor after all…and we take care of our own…"

---.---

"Damn Mobius. Laid it on a bit thick in there, huh?" said Ice as the two pilots reviewed the interrogation results in another room. "If I wasn't in the Spartans to begin with, I probably would have been after that talk. Seriously, I thought the guy was going to pass out, he got that pale when you were going on about how he had 'failed and was now a liability'. Some points I was laughing so hard during all that that Jackman actually saw me cry…and now he's not shutting up about it."

Mobius had a laugh at that. "Well I did get him thinking about everything, boss. I figured you'd like that much. I may only be 23, but I know what I'm doing. Helps that Jackman picked out the Lance leader to talk to first. Now that we have him scared stiff, he'll relay that to his partners and they'll be easier to deal with. Personally, I'd rather see those 4 helping us than going back to New Pontiac to be wasted like that. Though if any of those four weren't single, that'd create a problem. You know how these black-ops people are…they wouldn't hesitate to target the families and loved ones."

Ice nodded. He was looking over the information Mobius had managed to squeeze out of their first interrogation. The man's name was Jeff McDougal. He was single, 25 years old with no family on planet. An 8-year police veteran, Jeff had tested into the police mech-corps at 21 and had commanded his own lance for the past 3 years. The interrogation had shaken him up pretty bad, especially the revelation of how big of a target he was now. Jeff had seemed cooperative for the duration of Mobius' questions and even appeared interested in taking the Spartans up on the offer of safety. Nothing was guaranteed yet of course, but Mobius had given Jeff the night to think everything over and talk with his lancemates.

Come morning, Mobius would have another crack at Jeff, and then his people. The rogue Militia pilots were under guard in a different section of the detention block, and held separately from each other. Ice was thinking he'd let them stew things over for a few days before letting anyone take a crack at them. If anyone was going to have the slightest shred of information, it was going to be Jeff and this Gale Miller person. One of them talking would be great. To have both of them talk would be like finding a Star League cache in terms of information.

----.-----

**Thermopylae Base  
Marduk, Draconis Combine  
February 3, 3059  
0930 hours**

"Good morning Mr. McDougal" said Mobius as he entered the interrogation room. "How was your night? Good night's sleep?"

"G'morning, sir. It was an interesting night. I'm not used to being the one on the inside of the cell door, but it was nice regardless. I must extend my gratitude to you and your commander for the fine treatment of me and my people" replied Jeff.

"Well we can certainly appreciate the situation you're in. Following orders does still land you in a hot spot every now and then so we figure it wasn't your fault, so why punish you for it? I take it that you have talked everything over with your companions?"

"Yes sir, I did. One of the few things that we could all agree on was that we were screwed over with this assignment, and it was likely intentional. If that is indeed the case, then the worst thing for our health would be so show back up in New Pontiac alive and without our mechs. We didn't even want to get in a shooting match to begin with, and wouldn't have if that damned woman hadn't started firing" said a slightly peeved mechwarrior. "If we go back now we might as well be dead. If you can promise us safety within these walls, I'll tell you what I know. And perhaps, if you'll have us, my lance and I would like to volunteer for your unit."

The last statement had Mobius looking at McDougal with his head cocked to the side and jaw open. Nothing at last night's post-interrogation briefing had suggested anything like this would happen. Best suggested case was that at least one of the police pilots would talk.

Mobius was saved having to respond by Ice coming in through the door and waving him to take a seat. "Mr. McDougal, I am Captain Olsen" said Ice as he extended his hand to Jeff, who shook it firmly. "Now Mr. McDougal, you just stated that you might even go so far as to join the Spartans if we could promise you protection. I won't beat around the bush, we can't promise you protection…not because I don't want to, but because with events as they are and hidden players on the field, there is no promise of protection for anyone or anything. What I CAN do, is promise you that we will do our best to protect you."

"Thank you Captain. You're a man of good character and of good conscious. I had studied to be an interrogator before I transferred into the mech division so I know how to read people. Despite all my training though, I couldn't help but be impressed by your man here during my session last night. Masterfully done, good sir. Made even more so by the fact that you were using the truth and stating the strong likelihoods that loomed. Most fellows I know would have tried intimidation, threats, maybe even violence. Instead you made it almost like casually going out for coffee" laughed Jeff as he spoke. "But to answer you, Captain, yes, I would like to request to join your unit, for both me and my lancemates. We have nothing to go back to now. Our careers are shot even if we were left alive. One doesn't lose a whole lance of mechs on assignment and not take the brunt of the blame and consequences."

Ice nodded to Jeff "And those are big consequences. I've seen this unit up from just two mechs to a company, almost lost everything last year, and now am back at this. Losing a lance of mechs is not something that happens lightly, but with politicians dipping their hands into things, the consequences would likely be greater than at any other time. Is there anything that you can tell us about who orchestrated this attempt to arrest me?"

"There not much I can tell you, Captain. I was called in on January 30th by the chief of the mech division and told that in a few days' time my lance would be coordinating with a pair of SWAT teams and some military assistance in order to carry out the arrest on you and Lieutenants Witters and Kastor, though no organized resistance was to be expected. I caught a glimpse of paperwork on his desk with the Governor's personal seal on it, but I can't be sure if those were the orders for this op or not. It was slow moving because of our _Urban Mechs_, which we had to take since the division refused to allow a last minute mech swap. On the way here we found the lance of militia mechs and four trucks of troops waiting for us, I can't say where they came from, though since there were no tracks off-road. After that, we made our way to the bridge and you know the rest."

"I wish that you would have had more information, but the higher ups were obviously keeping you in the dark from the very beginning. But if you are indeed interested, I say welcome to the Spartans, Mr. McDougal" to which Jeff nodded and grinned. "You and your people will have to take the unit oath, sign the standard paperwork, and then make it through our initiation. After that, we can take you down to the hangers and assign you your new mechs…if you still want to pilot your _Wolf Trap_, it'll still be awhile; the techs are going to have to have a new leg made over at Norse. Until then you have your choice of open mechs. And we'll have to get two of your pilots something a bit better than _Urbies_."

With that, Ice lead the new 'Sergeant' off to go collect his people and fill out paperwork…after all, no Merc wants to make the MRBC angry by not following procedures; it's bad for business.

----.-----

**Thermopylae Base Parade Ground  
Marduk, Draconis Combine  
February 3, 3059  
1800 hours**

At least 50 off-duty personnel were gathered on the parade ground to witness the swearing in of the Spartans' four new pilots. Ice climbed up onto the 'stage', which was really just the flatbed of a Battlemech Recovery Vehicle, followed by the four initiates. They stood at attention in the khaki colored fatigue pants and red shirts that were standard uniform for the Spartans.

Ice's voice boomed out over the grounds "Spartans, attention!" Everyone snapped to attention as one, looking upon the 'stage' and the people upon it. "We are here today to witness the entry of these four mechwarriors into our brotherhood. They have survived the task of the tedious paperwork. They have passed the question and answer phase. And now we witness their public oaths that every one of us have taken."

"Do you mechwarriors desire entry into the Stuart's Spartans Mercenary Battalion?"

"We do" they all answered.

"Do you swear upon your lives, mechs, and commissions to uphold the honor the of the Stuart's Spartans, obey the chain of command, and fight as would the Devil's own?"

"We do."

"Do you swear to never betray the trust of the Spartans so long as you draw breath?"

"We do."

"Do you willingly accept the uniform, weapons, and mark of the Spartans and all that they represent and entail?"

"We do."

"Now step forward and roll up your right sleeves."

The four initiates stepped forward in line with their sleeves up. Dani came forward with a device of her own making. Pressed to the outside of the right shoulder and turned on, the device used small lasers and needles to create a small symbol on the skin identical to the crests that all Spartan battlemechs wore: a black ovoid Hoplon shield with two red overlapping 'S's on a downward right angle, speared through with a Spatha sword. None of the four did more than flinch as the device left the mark. When all four had received their marks, each was presented with a Spatha sword to wear on their belts and a blood-red cloak that hung to just below waist-length.

"Welcome mechwarriors, into the brotherhood of the Spartans. Now you must tackle your most challenging task of the day, an evening of celebrations where you must drink enough to attempt to keep up with Beers, here" said Ice as he pointed over to Marcus 'Beers' Flethcer, a light-mech jockey from Lightning Lance. As he walked over to the stage to gather his charges, Beers grabbed a beer off of a table set off to the side and downed it like one would water. "Have fun children" commented Ice as he walked off laughing, leaving the paling pilots to the hardest initiation they had ever faced…

-----End Chapter----

AN: Well here's Chapter 7 for you…I hope you all enjoy having two chapters in as many days. Leave me some reviews.

-AP signing out.


	10. Chapter 8: You did what?

Disclaimer: I own virtually nothing in here, so don't blame me, lol.

Thank you to ShadrachVS for another review. I apologize for the sketchy grammar at times, it's stuff that I've missed and so has my Beta, but English is neither of our majors so I suppose a bit is to be expected. Yeah, the Bridge battle was intended to be a quick little pop…some Police mech-jocks that haven't likely seen a day of mech to mech combat in their lives, a lance of fairly green and overconfident Militia jocks, and a few infantry without large guns or power-armor probably won't give the best of fights. I'd imagine this'd also be the case when two mechs are put down in a matter of seconds, the best mech of the bunch is clothes-lined by an assault mech, and you're outnumbered 13 to 8 at full strength. It really was designed for the "slap, slap, out!" as you describe it. Hope you enjoy and continue reading.

--------------.----------

**Thermopylae Base  
Marduk, Draconis Combine  
February 5, 3059  
****0500 hours**

Gale Miller was literally tossed into the room. She had been rudely awoken five minutes earlier and dragged from her cell. Now, she lay against the far wall looking at a very pissed off 'Rommy' Witters and a very very large man holding a large knife. The man hauled Gale to her feet and threw her into a chair in the center of the room.

"Well, well…welcome to Thermopylae Base, 'Sergeant' Miller. I'm so glad you could join us this morning" said Rommy as she walked around the room. "Now we're going to play a little game called 'tell me everything I want to hear'. Is that simple enough to comprehend?"

"What are you going to do, torture me? Ares Conventions. You can't do a thing to me, merc scum" snapped Miller.

"Oh, so you're going to play that way, huh? Well hun, let me tell you a few things. One, we're not at war, hence you are not a prisoner of war. Ares Conventions don't mean a thing in this room at the moment. Two, _Tai-sa_ Toriyama has stated that the New Baltimore garrison has fled its post without orders, so you are officially AWOL. But it gets even better. You 'stole' Marduk Militia equipment and you used it to attack me and my people. You have about as much standing right now as a terrorist. So I will tell you what, you had better answer my questions with everything you know or I will PERSONALLY see to it that you can never physically pilot a mech again. Do I make myself clear?"

The only answer that Rommy got was a bunch of spit in her face from Miller. Turning away and wiping the spittle off, Rommy took a second to compose herself. Then, she spun around and slammed a knife she'd had hidden down through Gale's hand, pinning it to the armrest of the chair, earning screams of pain from her victim.

"I told you Gale. I will personally see to it if you give me reason to. You came after me and you attacked my 'family', now I want to know why."

"Suck it, bitch. I'm not going to tell you anything" came the reply through clenched teeth.

"Jackman, take care of the other hand" said Rommy. Charles Jackman, the Sergeant in charge of the Spartan's infantry, nodded in response. He grabbed Gale's hand, slammed it down onto the armrest, and pinned it there with a dagger, eliciting another scream from the victim. "Now you are starting to try my patience, Gale. Are you going to cooperate or am I going to have to let Jackman here do the same to your feet? Who ordered the New Baltimore garrison away from their posts?"

All that Miller did in response was to stare straight ahead. A nod from Rommy had Jackman pulling out another pair of knives. These ones he carried over to the cart and dipped in peroxide, careful to make sure that his every move was visible to Gale as she sat pinned to the chair. Coming back over to the chain, Jackman knelt down and drew his arm back to strike, a move that would send one of the knives through the top of Miller's foot.

"Alright! For the love of God, just don't stab me again! I'm not sure who it was. All I know is that he was some aide from the Governor's office. He came in about a week or so ago to talk with Madison…that's our CO. I don't know what was said, just that we started to pack up the next day and moved out on the 27th." A loud bang sounded from the next room, almost sounding like a gunshot. "What the hell was that?"

"That," said Rommy, "was probably Kastor finishing off one of your uncooperative lancemates in the next room. We don't want to kill anyone if we don't have to, but if you or any of your compatriots aren't being any help to us with information, then we really have no reason to keep you around. If we just released you you'd likely be killed anyway, so it doesn't matter to us."

"I tell you everything else I know and you won't kill me?" Rommy nodded. "That was recorded, right?" Another nod. "Alright, we moved out form New Baltimore on the 27th. Headed inland and passed north of New Pontiac at night to avoid detection. I have no idea where we ended up, but I do know that various parts of the garrison entered the jungle northwest of New Pontiac. My lance and a company of infantry was left at the jungle's edge and given orders to proceed down to the Norse-Pontiac road and escort a police force in its mission…to take charge if I had to."

"Alright, that's enough about your movements. We can piece together the rest. Now what can you tell me about the force composition of your unit?" said Rommy as she fingered the edge of a curved knife.

With a nervous look and an audible gulp, Gale started to list off what she knew. "They have a full regiment of infantry, though mostly green troops…almost all are volunteers that live in the New Baltimore area, they're the 'weekend warriors', only one company of power-armor infantry though. I think they might be Cavaliers from some exchange with Davion. Two battalions of armor; good number of hovercraft with tanks of all sizes. I know there are some Tokugawa tanks, at least a lance worth of Regulator Hovertanks, missile launchers, short and long range, basically a well rounded bunch.

We had two companies of mechs, down to five lances now, obviously. Only two lances are veterans, mostly former DCMS mechjocks that aren't fit for active service. They have good machines though…most of the Militia does considering how important the planet is. First off is Monroe's lance. He's in charge of the garrison force and everyone in that lance is a vet. They've got a new SD1-O _Sunder_ omnimech that Monroe likes to pilot, a pair of AS7-K _Atlas_ mechs, and a DRG-5N _Dragon_ to round out their punch.

Our other veteran lance is led by Stephens. He pilots a MAD-5D _Marauder_…makes that thing dance like a medium mech. His lance also has a JM6-DD _JagerMech_, a DRG-5N _Dragon_, and a CRD-5K _Crusader _with pilots that have all had combat experience against the Smoke Jags or the Ghost Bears.

The other three lances, are fairly green, as are my people. We were all inducted into the militia within the last year and a half, though there are a few pilots with as little as 6 months of Militia training under their belts. These lances have mainly light and medium mechs, though there are a few heavies and whatnot mixed in. You have one lance with a LCT-1V _Locust_, WSP-1A _Wasp_, JVN-10P _Javelin_, and JR7-K _Jenner_. There's another with a SR1-O _Strider_, BJ2-O _Blackjack_, SR1-O _Strider_, DMO-1K _Daimyo_. The last lance is a little heavier with a AV1-O _Avatar_, BHKU-O _Black Hawk-Ku_, NDA-1K _No Dachi_, and a WFT-1 _Wolf Trap_."

"You get all that written down, Jackman?"

"Yes ma'am. Have it recorded too if I missed anything."

"Take care of her then. I'm going to talk to the boss."

"You got it, Boss Lady" said Jackman as he took another syringe, stabbed it into Miller's arm, emptying its contents into her bloodstream. The drugs took hold quickly and Miller's head slumped down as she passed out. "You want me to toss her back into isolation?"

"Yeah, Charles, toss her back into isolation. Double up the guards if you can spare them. If not, call up Toriyama and request a loan from his Combine personnel. We need to keep those pilots safe and separated. They'll make a good bargaining chip later in the game. And please find out if Caboose really shot his assigned person. If he did, I'll chop his bloody hand off myself."

----.----

"…so you see, Ice, they've got some firepower to them. More than enough to rival our own, including the base defenses, if whoever is pulling the strings wants us out of the picture. I want to take two lances up north and scout out the fords and the lumber camps up that way."

"I can't let you do that, Rommy! You know that we can't afford to spare a lance for duty, much less the two you want. Two wouldn't even be safe enough considering what we know is out there, now. I have to say no…and don't even argue it because you know I'm right. If we could even match their mech force in equal firepower you know that I would agree. Even with McDougal's people and the new mechs we are still ridiculously short on firepower against a full garrison force running around. The only reason that we're safe right now from these power-hungry arseholes is the fact we're sitting in the best defended base on the planet with the close-by support of Norse Battlemechs. I want to know where they went too, but we can't afford to spare the forces to search the dozens of potential locations, and we sure as hell couldn't afford to lose you or any mechs."

Rommy pouted since she knew he was right. Two lances against almost two regiments worth of infantry and vehicles was suicide. "Fine, but I'd prefer to have the engineers go out one more time and check all of the perimeter sensors. It'd make me feel safer."

"Granted. I was thinking the same thing myself. Right now we can't tell where they are or what they're doing, but we need to keep an eye open. Until they show themselves again they're a wildcard. I will catch you around to talk later Leslie, I need to go call Toriyama and have another chat."

---.---

**New Pontiac  
Marduk, Draconis Combine  
February 5, 3059  
****0900 hours**

"What do you mean they're still alive?" shouted the suited man from behind his desk. "Are you absolutely sure that this isn't some kind of hoax?"

"I'm positive. Our informant saw them firsthand and even saw them captured…alive…and I have no reason to doubt that intelligence." replied the woman. "My source has proven correct on everything else about these Spartans that has been called in for analysis. At this point I probably know more about what they do on a daily basis than anyone else save that wretched Captain Olsen."

"Damnit! That wasn't supposed to go down like that. I thought you said that your people would be able to get the job done. Do you realize what this could do to our plans! They might be able to trace this back to us, and we can't have that."

"It's not my fault. My people had more firepower and more at stake in this than you did, you cheap bastard. If you hadn't skimped on the resources they might have succeeded, or at least gone down trying. But noooooo, you just had to go ad shortchange everyone involved in this, didn't you? Consider yourself lucky I don't kill you right now, old man. Because of your failure and the failure of your people to even die properly, I have to step up the timetable. The Benjamin Regulars are still tied up with the offensive on the Smoke Jaguars, but my sources on Outreach say that the remaining recruiters that these filthy mercenaries left behind when they came here are gathering another force that could prove troublesome if we don't act and succeed before they arrive here."

"Madam, I spared as many resources for our little attempt as I could without drawing undo attention to our goals…"

"I don't want to hear your damned excuses!" she cut in. "We're going to have to start phase two. I just hope that this proves to be as effective as our previous measures. And don't slip up this time or I will kill you myself."

"Yes ma'am. Phase two will begin by the end of the week. I will see to it personally that the second wave goes off without a hitch."

"You had better, if you value your role in all this and your life."

--------End Chapter---------

AN: not quite as long as my last few submissions, but it'll have to do for now.


	11. Chapter 9: First Strike

AN: Yeah, it's me again. Just the standard disclaimer here. I don't own anything other than the original characters and the plot…otherwise it belongs to someone else, like Microsoft, FASA, WizKids, or whoever else has the rights to Battletech/Mechwarrior nowadays.

----Chapter 9----

**Downtown New Pontiac  
Marduk, Draconis Combine  
February 10, 3059  
1030 hours**

Explosions rippled throughout the Combine portion of New Pontiac. Windows shattered, showering scared people with torrents of glass, injuring and killing many. Buildings toppled, cars were crushed and exploded, adding their own shrapnel to the growing carnage. Gas lines were ruptured and caught fire as underground explosions sent manhole covers flying.

Within the space of a minute, the portion of New Pontiac most inhabited by people of Combine heritage lay in ruins. Thousands lay dead and dying on the streets or in the rubble that, mere moments before, had been stores and office buildings. Police, Fire and EMS squads were quick to respond to the devastation. There was little that could be done. The gas line explosions had also destroyed many of the underground water-mains in that portion of the city. Police did what they could to control the crowds of shell-shocked civilians that had no idea what to do or where to go. EMS was completely overwhelmed. Dead bodies were everywhere and there were even more wounded that needed medical attention in order to have a chance at surviving.

It was as if a natural disaster had struck New Pontiac. If only that had been the case. All areas of the city outside the Combine sector had been left untouched, spared the destruction that scarred most of downtown New Pontiac. As with the aftermath of most disasters, natural and manmade, there was panic and riots. Tensions that had been building up for months began to come to the surface as gangs of Davion loyalists and Combine citizens clashed in the streets, leaving more people dead and injured. The gangs looted stores and set fires where they could. This violence only subsided around 12:00pm as Militia soldiers, tanks, and battlemechs took to the streets in an attempt to restore some semblance of order.

By mid afternoon, a large swath of New Pontiac, stretching from downtown to the southwestern suburbs, lay wreathed in flames as fires spread unchecked. Fire Department squads were able to prevent the blaze from spreading elsewhere, but the underground explosions had destroyed the water supply to the Kurita portion of the city, dooming it to death by fire. The only thing that Police and the Militia could do was evacuate as mech people as possible before the flames got to them, while mechs knocked down buildings in an attempt to create a firebreak.

----.-----

**Thermopylae Base  
Marduk, Draconis Combine  
February 10, 3059  
1400 hours**

"Chief, chief! Turn on the vid-screen quick!" shouted Rommy as she burst into Ice's room, only to fin him getting dressed, apparently after a shower. "Oh dear god, I did not want to see that! I'm sorry! I'll be out in the hall" she said as she hurried out of the room to cover her embarrassment.

"SHIT!" yelled Ice as he covered himself up. "Damnit Leslie! Knock before you come in. Give me just a second. Alright, I'm decent. Now just what is it that is so important?" Not bothering with a response, Rommy walked over and turned on Ice's vid-screen. The screen came on and Rommy turned it to the news:

"We bring you more on today's deadly tragedy" said the announcer. "Early this morning at 10:30 AM, explosions ripped through the Combine portion of downtown and suburbian New Pontiac. Police and paramedics are still responding to the incident. The gang violence that ran rampant earlier this afternoon has been quelled by the New Pontiac police with assistance from the Marduk Militia. Firefighters, unable to battle the blazes inside the devastation zone due to ruptured water-mains, have been helping to evacuate civilians from the projected path of the fires.

Dead and injured are still being pulled from the rubble of downtown. So far the death toll has topped 10,000 and continues to rise as the search for survivors continues. Hospitals all across New Pontiac are being filled to the brim with injured and patients are being transported to outlying towns and cities for medical attention. Governor Adkins has listed New Pontiac as a disaster area and has issued orders to bring in aid and supplies from other cities across Marduk. The Marduk Militia have instituted Martial Law in an attempt to quell remaining pockets of gang violence and looting. All civilians in New Pontiac outside the fire-zone are urged to return to their homes and remain there if at all possible. Curfew has been imposed and set at 8:00 PM. Anyone found outside after that hour without reason or purpose may be subject to arrest until the crisis is over.

A group calling themselves 'The Order of Saint George' has claimed responsibility for this attack. Named after the Saint of lore known as 'The Dragonslayer', they claim to be freedom fighters, battling the Dragon for Marduk. Mere moments ago, they released a tape to the media. We go now to the recording:"

A shrouded figure appeared on screen and began to address the camera. "Citizens of Marduk, we are the Order of Saint George. For decades now we have been kept under the tyranny and oppression of the Dragon. They have repressed our rights, our heritage, and our destiny. For centuries Marduk was one of the gems of the Federated Suns. House Davion acknowledged Marduk once as one of the most valuable worlds in the realm. House Kurita has used us. We are nothing but expendable resources fueling the Kuritan war machine with Mechs and equipment. For the past 26 years we have been feeding the very tyranny that has been oppressing us and silencing our voice through one means or another, just as they have in recent months. Now! Now is the time for us to throw off the cloak of oppression. The Order of Saint George fights for the freedom of Marduk. We have the resources. We have the manpower. Rise up with us and we will have freedom! We shall reclaim what is rightfully ours and return our planet to what is once was and what it shall be once more. War is coming to Marduk. There will be no neutrality. There will be no mercy. Today's attack on the plague that tarnishes our planet is but the beginning. Stand with us to fight the menace, or stand against us and fight side by side with our oppressors. War is coming and Marduk shall once again be free…"

The news anchor came back on the air. "There you have it folks, a statement directly from the Order of Saint George claiming responsibility for today's horrific attacks. We now go to our camera crews inside downtown New Pontiac…"

Rommy turned off the vid-screen. "That is what was so important, Jake. We've just been dealt a Declaration of War by some jackass hiding under a tablecloth. They killed over 10,000 civilians for God's sake!" she said as she paced angrily around the room. "I know the news hasn't picked up on it yet because of the local crisis, but our intel assets and Sat-Com have picked up small-scale attacks on other planetary centers of Kuritan authority. We have attacks on pro-Kurita police stations, police officers, and politicians all over the planet. Satellite pics have shown tanks and mechs reoccupying the New Baltimore garrison post. They're showing a color scheme that we're not familiar with so it might be these St. George assholes."

"Alright, get me what info you can and meet me in the CIC in 30 minutes. I'll need to talk with what's her face from Norse…Morimoto…Relina I think it was. Whatever, just get the techs patched up and in contact with the Norse Supervisor. From the few talks I've had with them, Norse personnel don't pay much attention to what's going on outside the walls unless it threatens them, so they might not know about all this shit. If you get a chance within the next hour, talk with Toriyama. I want to know if there's anything he needs us to do, even if we're not the biggest hit in New Pontiac right now. Now get outta here and let me finish changing. I'll be over as soon as I can."

----,----

"Ms. Morimoto, it's a pleasure to speak with you again" said Ice as be bowed slightly to the vid-screen.

"As it is for me, Captain Olsen. I take it our pet project was completed without any problems?" replied the Norse Battlemech Supervisor.

"It was completed without a hitch, ma'am. And it appears to have served its purpose since no one has confronted us on it yet. However, I have another issue to talk to you about. I take it you have not heard the news?"

"No, Captain, I have not."

"The Kurita quarter of New Pontiac was attacked this morning by a group calling itself the Order of Saint George. So far over 10,000 civilians dead and they're still pulling out bodies. We have a revolution starting here and from the message they delivered to the media, it sounds like Norse may be in their crosshairs for supplying Mechs and weapons to the Combine. I'm advising going to Yellow Alert and stepping up perimeter patrols. Late last week there was an incident with a lance of Militia Mechs from the New Baltimore garrison. They've been declared rogue and the remaining garrison is hiding somewhere up in the woods to the north. We haven't found where, nor do we have the manpower to search for them, but if they're with these St. George people then they're a threat."

"Duly noted. If you find yourself in a tight situation, call me and you can access up to a company of our mechs and armor for assistance. Any more than that and we would begin to compromise Norse's security. Although sometime down the road, if you get an open day, I would like to ask you to stop by our facility. I have something to show you that you might find very interesting."

"I will be sure to do so Ms. Morimoto."

"Oh, before I forget, Captain. Your cousin has been in touch with me regarding certain matters." Jake raised his eyebrow at this. It wasn't usual for Frank to contact someone that was practically next door and forget to contact him as well. "My family has been one of the three that have overseen the construction and operation of Norse Battlemechs' Marduk facility for centuries. We have talked the issue over and have decided to expand our production lines and output. If you have any spare mech pilots, we have back-stock on _Griffin_ chassis that we would gladly loan our new partners."

It was all Ice could do to keep his jaw from dropping at that statement. The Spartans? Partners with Norse Battlemechs? It was practically unheard of for Norse to partner with anyone. If the track record for companies trying to lease or purchase the rights for Norse designs was any indication, it was almost impossible without Herculean effort.

Relina continued, "Your cousin has put forth a convincing argument and proposal and the families approved. Norse will expand the smelting facilities and add another line to build another chassis type on Marduk. You and your Spartans will be building and operating factories to produce tanks and armored vehicles on the surface and in the upper level caverns of the mine, though you will leasing the space from Norse an paying us for the . Also, your cousin asked me to relay a message to you. He sends his congratulations on the new lance and that the first wave will arrive sometime in the last week of the month."

Ice just smiled and shook his head. Leave it to Frank to know everything that goes on before he even gets official word. Heck, leave it to Frank to hammer out a deal with Norse in record time for probably one of the best bargains that he had ever heard Norse giving, even if 'Spartan Inc.' would have to lease the land and buy most of the materials from Norse. The tank/armored vehicle industry was a solid market to be involved in, even if they were no longer kings of the battlefield. A well made and well armed formation of tanks could give mechs a run for their money and could still pack some nasty surprises for overconfident opponents.

"Thank you Ms. Morimoto. I am honored as it is to be working for you. It will be even more of an honor to be working with you once the facilities are complete. My thanks to you and your generous partners for this opportunity. And I thank you for relaying the message from my cousin. I'm afraid that I must cut this call short for now. With the chaos that is overtaking Marduk, I need to be briefed by my intelligence officers and see what needs to be done to protect Norse and the rest of the planet."

"May luck smile down on you in your endeavors, Captain." With that Relina ended the connection and Ice made his way back to the center of the CIC and gazed upon the holographic planetary map that took up most of the large center table. Bright blue dots marked Thermopylae Base and Norse Battlemechs, as well as _Tai-sa_ Toriyama's Militia Base outside of New Pontiac. A black and grey haze hung over a portion of New Pontiac, signifying the fires that were still running unchecked. A technician pointed out the red triangles in and around New Baltimore and mentioned they signified the force believed to be the Order of Saint George. Another larger red circle with a hazy border lay on the map to the north-northeast of Thermopylae Base, standing for the general area the missing New Baltimore garrison was believed to be in.

Ice stood and studied the map for hours. In that time he watched as icons of crossed swords popped up all across the planet, marking attacks and assassinations carried out by the Order of Saint George and any other terrorist group taking advantage of the chaos.

"Leslie, any word from Toriyama?" asked Ice as she walked into the CIC.

"Yeah, though I had to go through _Chu-sa_ Yuki to get an answer. Toriyama is out in the city with a battalion of mechs and a battalion of infantry trying to restore some order and get those civilians evacuated before the fires get to them. Yuki told us to stay put. There's too much chaos in the city as is and having more mechs and troops down there right now would just make it even harder to coordinate and get under control. She said she'd get Toriyama to call us back whenever he gets back into the base."

"Shit. I really wanted to get more of an answer from them on what we're needed to do and what in the hell is going on down there" replied Ice. "Oh well. We'll just deal with crap as it comes up. I think you were right about those unknowns in New Baltimore. They look like they're digging in to stay for awhile, and that is one of the most defensible bases on planet aside from this one. It had to be an inside job. There's no other way that the New Baltimore garrison would go rogue and disappear like that so soon to these attacks if it wasn't."

"I know chief" Rommy responded. "I don't doubt that it was an inside job. There's nothing we can do about it now. As you so bluntly told me last week, we don't have the manpower to do anything about it yet."

"Just give it a few weeks, Rommy. Relina relays a message from Frank when I talked to her earlier. Apparently we have some help arriving by the end of the month. To top that off, Relina has offered the use of up to a company of mechs and/or armor if and when we need it. If those cowards think they're going to have a pushover just dealing with the Militia, they've got another thing coming."

-------End Chapter---------

There you have it people. Chapter 9 in its glory. I'll try to keep these coming at around a chapter a week, but that might be give or take a few days since I have a lot of school projects coming up for my summer classes. Hope y'all enjoy.

-AP


	12. Chapter 10: The plot thickens

AN: don't own anything not of my own creation…so nothing out of the ordinary here.

Texray: Thanks for the review. It's good to know that I do have some readers out there interested in the story. Don't worry about the heavy hardware ;-)

Lucas: Again, thanks for reading. Hope you are enjoying the sequel so far and thanks for the meter scale, much appreciated.

RougeBaron: I feel honored that you think so highly of my story. I will definitely look into that website. I didn't realize there was another one out there, and hadn't really since the Archivist closed the old "unofficial fanfiction site".

----Chapter 10----

**New Baltimore Militia Base  
Marduk, Draconis Combine  
February 14, 3059**

An infantryman strode purposefully into the administrative complex on the Militia Base's grounds. Walking through a pair of checkpoints and up a flight of stairs, he found himself standing outside an ornately carved wooden door. Knocking, he heard acknowledgement and entered. Walking up to the desk, the soldier knelt down before the middle-aged man with graying hair.

The soldier then spoke, "Sir Charrow, New Baltimore has been secured. As per your orders, most of the pro-Kurita citizens have been rounded up and are currently being held under guard outside the base walls."

"Excellent" responded Sir Charrow. "Set up the cameras and execute them. We will purge this planet of its oppressors. Has there been any word from our operatives in New Pontiac?"

"Yes, Sire. New Pontiac is still reeling from our bombings. The death toll is over 30,000 and still climbing. The city's infrastructure in the Combine quarter is crippled."

"Then all is going according to plan. What news from our other forces? Has Sir Baldwin's force made its presence known?"

"No sir. Sir Baldwin's force still has not hit its objectives. They claim that their mechs have suffered severe actuator problems, either due to a bad shipment or sabotage, but it is unknown which is the cause. Our forces on the other continent report success in all their objectives to date. They are now concentrating political power and amassing their troops to lay siege to the Militia base at Dexter. The task forces at Brownstown and Karta have hit unexpected resistance and are bogged down. 90 of our assassination attempts have been successful, but security has been too tight around the planetary Advisory Council to complete our objectives."

"No matter" replied the commander, "there is enough chaos to suite our needs. Continue to round up as many Kurita supporters as you can and eliminate them. We need to hold on and destroy as many of our opponents and their forces as we can before we can initiate our final phase."

"As you wish, Sir Charrow." With that, the soldier stood back up, replaced his helmet on his head, and made his way outside. Mere moments later, gunshots could be heard as Order of Saint George soldiers slaughtered the hundreds of Kurita supporters that had been rounded up.

-------.-------

**Thermopylae Base  
Marduk, Draconis Combine  
February 15, 3059**

"Why can't things ever be routine or quiet?" asked Ice as he slammed his head into his desk repeatedly. Just that morning the Order of Saint George had broadcast its execution of Kurita loyalists in and around New Baltimore. Toriyama had been outraged at seeing the video clip and had made no secret that he would be calling on the Spartans for help in the near future.

Having seized New Baltimore, the Order was in a good position to defend itself and to carry out its goals. The smaller continent of Assyr was, for all purposes, a lost cause. The Order had taken the key cities there and were laying siege to the Militia garrison posted on the far side of the planet, a third of which had already been destroyed or surrendered. Their forces were already advancing on New Pontiac, killing as many of Kurita descent as they could find as they made their way to the planetary capital. Despite his despair at the situation, Ice couldn't help but admire the Order's planning and organization. They had shown the strength of a Davion Regimental Combat Team but yet none of their forces had invaded. As far as anyone in intelligence could tell, their entire force had been on planet and had emerged from caves, tunnels, and forests en mass. Most of the forces the Order was fielding had to either have been shipped in piece by piece and reassembled or they must have been lying in wait for years…some of the machines maybe even decades from when Davion lost Marduk in the 4th Succession War.

The disaster that was New Pontiac was still out of hand. The fires were finally starting to burn themselves out, but the body count was closing in on 50,000 and showed no signs of slowing down. Many survivors from the Kurita quarter had fled to the countryside or off planet, if they could afford passage. There was a great fear that the Order of Saint George would soon overrun Marduk and those of Kuritan loyalties or descent would meet the same fate as so many of the citizens of Kentares IV had decades earlier.

Now Ice was waiting in his office. Governor Adkins was scheduled to give a speech in just a few moments to address the crisis that was plaguing Marduk. Frankly he didn't expect much to come of this speech or from the Governor…that fat waste of space. The only good news that Ice had had al day was that he'd managed to get a message out to the district capital of Benjamin about the situation on planet, detailing the Order of Saint George, its actions, and the ineptitude of the planetary government.

He'd also gotten word that two Jumpships had appeared in-system and disgorged a number of dropships, now heading towards Marduk at a 3G burn to arrive in a matter of days instead of a trip of almost a week at a 1G burn. Having over half a dozen dropships making a high gravity burn might be disconcerting for Ice if they hadn't been filled with troops, machines, and supplies for the Spartans. Apparently Frank had sensed trouble brewing on the border and sent what people and machines he'd managed to acquire on the fastest Jumpship route he could afford…at least that's what the message relayed from the dropships had mentioned. The rest of the growing Spartan force wouldn't arrive until sometime in May or June with Frank.

Ice was snapped out of his musings as the vid-screen was filling with the large image of Adkins trying to stand entirely behind a podium, and failing miserably. Ice noticed that there wasn't the traditional seal of the Draconis Combine behind the man.

"Citizens of Marduk," began Adkins, "I come before you today to address the crisis that is gripping our beloved planet. Five days ago the Order of Saint George attacked New Pontiac. Since then they have attacked the planetary government and have begun to seize power for themselves. As evidenced by this morning's broadcast, the Order is actively targeting those of Combine ancestry and loyalty. They have also taken control of large portions of the planet. I am not here to lie to you this day, my fellow citizens, we are in dire times. The forces and resources provided to us by the Draconis Combine are proving themselves to be woefully inadequate to face this threat. So that we might preserve our planet with the least amount of destruction, I order all Marduk Militia to stand down and surrender their personnel and equipment to the Order of Saint George.

Today we enter a new era. We will cast off the tyranny of the Draconis Combine and return to the protection of the Federated Suns. Today, with the guidance and protection of the Order of Saint George, we make a new path for Marduk! We will make this proud planet a powerhouse once more! By my authority as Governor of Marduk, I hereby nationalize Norse Battlemech Works and order its surrender to Order and government personnel. I also demand that any Kurita forces, regular or mercenary, as well as any loyalists or citizens to leave Marduk within the next 14 days or you will be subject to imprisonment and/or execution under Order law and authority. Rise up, my brethren, and help the Order of Saint George seize what belongs to us. God Bless House Davion!" With that the transmission faded out to an image of the Federated Suns.

Ice sat their, mute and disbelieving of what he had just witnessed and heard. "That son of a bitch…"

----.----

Ice burst into the Command and Control center. Rushing into the back wall, he pulled open a plexi-glass case and slammed his fist down on the Red Alert button. All across the base sirens began to wail. Ice picked up a microphone set and activated the circuit for all of the loudspeakers across the base.

"Attention all Spartan personnel, this is Captain Olsen. As of ten minutes ago, we are in a state of war with Marduk's renegade government and the Order of Saint George. Prep for extended combat operations. That is all."

Turning around, Ice caught a glimpse of Rommy hurrying in through the door. "Rommy, get on over here" he called. "I need you to get everything set up for base defense. We've gone over the drills over three dozen times so far, but you are on par with anyone here with your eye for defense. Map out the hides again, talk to Kastor and make sure he knows where to set up, and draw up patrol schedules. Make sure to extend the list to include another company's worth of mechs at least. I didn't get exact strength numbers or composition from the dropships, but considering that it could have been intercepted, that's not surprising."

"Alright Chief," she responded, "I'll get right on that A.S.A.P. Toriyama called right before I came in. He wanted me to relay to you that the New Pontiac base may be untenable. Said most of the Drac citizens were either evacuated or scattering. Also said his scouts picked up a strong mech force coming in from the north. Couldn't get exact numbers, but at least two battalions of mechs and unknown armor and infantry. One of his scout cars got picked off by VTOLs so we know they have air support as well."

"Damn. Alright then, I wasn't counting on them having air support. I need to go over to Norse and set up some plans face-to-face. You have command until I get back. If anything big comes up, my personal comm-link is on" said Ice as he gathered up printouts from the tables around him and exited the room.

---.---

**Norse Battlemech Works  
Marduk, Draconis Combine  
February 15, 3059**

20 minutes later, Ice came flying through the front gate of Norse Battlemech Works and pulled up to a stop in front of the main factory. Getting out, he walked right past the guards and into the massive assembly plant. No one stopped him. They all knew who he was, or at least what unit he was with. It was impossible for anyone to mistake the red dress shirt marked with the insignia of a Captain as well as the blood-red cape for anyone else of any other unit. They knew he was a Spartan.

He skirted the edge of the assembly lines, passing a pair of 55 ton _Griffin_ battlemechs that were nearing completion. Walking up a flight of steel stairs, Ice strode down the gantry and up to the door of a corner office. Knocking, he heard acknowledgement and entered.

"Ah, Captain Olsen. What brings you to our humble establishment this afternoon?" asked Norse administrator Relina Morimoto.

"Ms. Morimoto" replied Ice in acknowledgement. "I'm here to talk business with you. Without a doubt you've heard from our beloved Governor." Relina nodded an affirmative. "I'm also under the assumption that you have no intention of surrendering your establishment to that psychopath…"

Relina gave Ice a withering glare. "Captain, the Marduk Division of Norse Battlemech Works has been under the supervision and administration of my line, as well as those of the other two governing families, since the days of the Star League. Houses have invaded. Planetary Governments and garrisons have been replaced. Norse Battlemechs has remained the same. We have never, and will NEVER surrender this facility to direct outside influence. I would see this plant destroyed before that happens…"

The vehemence in Relina's voice took Ice by surprise. The threat she had just made was not an idle one. To destroy a battlemech plant, much less one of the most self-sufficient plants in the whole of the Inner Sphere would be an incredible and irreparable blow to everyone.

"I have no doubt about that Ms. Morimoto. That's why I'm here to talk to you. The Spartans stand by their contract to defend Norse Battlemechs, though we also must honor our portion of the contract to help defend the planet as a whole. We can not easily do both with our current manpower, though the burden will be eased somewhat by reinforcements arriving within the next three days. If we're to win, we'll need to keep the Order and Adkins off balance and on their guard. To do that, I'm going to need your help, Relina."

Relina grinned. "Indeed, Captain. I have told you before that I would be willing to share access to the Norse defense force with you. I also have invited you to tour our facility and to see the 'surprise' I've been keeping for you should this type of situation arise. Please, walk with me Captain" said Relina as she rose from behind her desk and moved out onto the gantry.

Reline continued to speak as they walked along the gantry overlooking the Mech assembly bays. "We have been making mechs here for over 300 years, Captain. There is a very strong and very proud tradition that Norse Battlemechs can take care of itself and deliver quality service and machines to our customers. I am a bit ashamed to admit it, but this is one of the few periods in time where we can not totally defend ourselves. That is partially where you and your Spartans come in. Since the capture of Marduk by the Combine during the 4th Succession War, Norse and the Combine have achieved a profitable working relationship. They provide us protection and planetary stability, and we provide them an active seller of quality medium-mechs.

The Coordinator took a gamble recently with stripping away most of Marduk's garrison forces for the offensive against the Smoke Jaguars. It appears that this has had unforeseen consequences. We've known that resistance cells on planet had mech assets, but we didn't know how many until now. And now that we know they have almost 5 mech regiments, I know that Norse can not stand alone. I had a strong hand in choosing to offer you and your unit this contract, Captain Olsen. The Coordinator sent out contract offers to the handful of units that I personally recommended, though I will admit I had hoped the Spartans would accept the contract. I'd reviewed your records, Captain. I'd even seen battle footage from your recent foray with the Federated Suns. You stood and fought against a force that had shattered your support and even sent the professionals you were assisting running for outer space. You are honorable, Captain. You are trustworthy and you will do your damnedest to fulfill the tasks required of you and your people. That is the kind of person and unit that I can trust with the defense of Norse."

Ice nodded and they walked silently for a few moments, exiting the factory and walking onto the grounds. "I appreciate your vote of confidence Ms. Morimoto. It's always been my policy to see commitments through, no matter the odds. I have no intention of backing down this time either."

The pair walked through the archway that made up one of the entrances into the mine itself. Down, into the dim light of the tunnel. As they walked further into the shaft, they passed side passages that lead to housing, storage for equipment, and even caverns that held gantries, vehicles, and mechs for the Norse defense force. After nearly 700 meters, Relina turned down a large, dark side-tunnel. After another 100 meters, she stopped in front of a large durasteel door, almost the size of one found on a dropship. Punching in an access code and submitting to a retinal scan, the door began to slide open.

"Come, Captain Olsen. Welcome to what we affectionately refer to as Valhalla" said Relina as she took Ice's arm and pulled him though the doorway.

All Ice could do was stop and stare. Before him stood a company of Star League era battlemechs. A handful of techs were busy doing maintenance on the nearest _Crab_, but the hanger was mostly devoid of human life.

"This is absolutely unbelievable" stammered Ice.

"I told you, Captain, that we have been administering this facility since the time of the Star League. The other two governing families had very strong ties with the Star League military. It was only natural then that when General Kerensky fled the Inner Sphere, that Norse Battlemechs would be used as a cache for materials they could not take. I am showing you this as a sign of trust, and I must have your vow that you will share this with no one. Norse is a large enough target as is. I do not need every House military unit within 60 light years coming to attempt to seize these" said Relina as she gestured to the machines.

She continued "There are more than this, but these mechs were the most serviceable out of the lot. These are my family's personal technicians…they are the only ones trustworthy enough right now to fix up these relics. Even so, the first few mechs should be ready within the next week or so and more will follow. Our only problem is that we do not have pilots trained for these chassis or skilled enough to handle this advanced technology. And that leads me to my other surprise for you Captain. Since we are business partners I will not hide more than I need to from you. Now I feel it is time to show you our defense force's trainers."

"Trainers? You say that like there's something amusing. Why does that not comfort me?"

"You'll see, Captain, though I think that you might get along well with them, especially considering your sense of honor."

Walking back out to the main mine tunnel, the pair made their way back up to the Defense Force cavern, where Ice had noticed the mechs and vehicles on the way down. Following Relina in, Ice surveyed the scene before him. In the gantries that lined the cavern walls, there was the full battalion of mechs that Norse officially claimed for self-defense. One of the companies appeared to be made up of an assortment of different chassis and configurations, likely salvaged from the multiple attempts over the years to seize the factory. The other two companies seemed to be mainly a mix of the_ Griffin_ and _Wolverine_ chassis that Norse was praised for, as well as a few other mediums.

Of the armor assets, only one of three companies was at its resting places, the other two likely on patrol and guard duty. A flash of activity in the far corner of the cavern caught Ice's eye. Looking over, he nearly tripped and fell. Stacked away in corner gantries was a full star of clan mechs!

"Relina, why do you have a star of clan mechs here with your defense force?" asked a tentative Ice.

This earned a haughty laugh from Relina. "Captain, don't worry. One of Norse's newest buyers is Phelan Ward and his Clan Wolf-in-Exile as well as the rest of the ARDC military. Khan Ward has, as a gesture of goodwill, sent a star of mechwarriors and elementals to train our pilots and to defend our facility. Let me introduce you to the Star Commander."

Nearing the clan mechs, Relina walked straight up to a very large man with close-cropped hair, dressed in shorts and a cooling vest, who looked as if he had just spent the last few hours in a simulator. He was taller than Ice by just a few inches, but must have out-massed him by at least 10 kilos.

"Star Commander Fenris Ward, greetings. I trust you enjoyed your afternoon in the simulators, quiaff?" said Relina.

"Aff, Relina Morimoto. It was a good afternoon in the simulator, though I do miss piloting a real mech into combat" replied the Star Captain.

Ice was shocked yet again. A clanner was showing Relina amazing respect by using her surname. He had spent part of his spare time on Outreach researching the Clans and their technology since he was more likely to encounter clan-tech or perhaps some bondsmen in the Combine. The last thing he expected was to meet free clanners protecting an Inner Sphere facility of their own free will.

Relina continued to speak. "Star Commander, I would like to introduce you to Captain Jacob Olsen, commander of the Stuart's Spartans, our other line of defense."

"Pleasure to meet you Captain. I must say I have been looking forward to this since seeing the holo-vids of your fight in New Pontiac. It was most entertaining for us to watch. Likely some of the most fun we have had in the last six months here."

"I can imagine, Star Commander. It is an honor to meet a blooded warrior of Clan Wolf" replied Ice. The Star Commander nodded his head in acknowledgement of the respect paid to him. "It does come as a surprise to me to find warriors of your caliber here. If I had known of your duties, I would have come by already to spar, if you would be willing."

"Aff, Captain. It would be most enjoyable to spar with a freeborn warrior of your skill. I have not seen an axe used with such skill in years. Perhaps I should begin to use my blades again, eh?" the clanner let out a booming laugh at this. Ice had to chuckle as well at the clanner's sense of humor.

Ice's commlink started going off. Excusing himself, he walked a few meters away and answered. "What's the news Leslie?"

"BIG news Chief. Toriyama has started his withdrawal from New Pontiac. A second force appeared from the south and forced his hand. They're getting set to blow the Militia Base so the Order can't use it, but they're going to need some help. They won't make it all the way here before this new column gets to them since they're already moving to cut off the road. We're going to need to move out and set up. I've already plotted out an intercept and ambush point but we need to move fast. Only about two hours to get out there and set up."

"Roger Leslie, I'm on my way back. Get the techs to warm up my mech. I want Hoplon, Lightning, and Rain staying home to guard the base. Send out word that Thunder, Spatha, Beast, Jackman's Cavaliers, and McDougal's bunch are to gear up and get ready to head out. I'll be back at Thermopylae within 25."

Ice walked back over to the conversation between Relina and the Star Commander. "I am sorry to interrupt, but the Order is on the move. They are trying to cut off Toriyama before he can get back here to safety. Relina, I need to take you up that offer of assistance, preferably one of the heavier medium companies you can spare. Star Commander, I do believe I recall you mentioning a 'lack of action'. Interested in a cut of the fun?"

Fenris Ward looked down at Jacob Olsen with an almost feral grin. "Indeed, Captain, I did. Where do I sign up?" replied the clanner as klaxons began to sound and warriors ran to their mechs.

----End Chapter----

AN: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up and posted, but I had a term paper due that took up a lot more time than I had anticipated. To make it up to y'all, I made this one my longest chapter yet. Hopefully I'll be able to stick to the goal of a chapter a week without too many interruptions. Enjoy, and don't forget to read and review 


	13. Chapter 11: Knight to C3

**Chapter 11: Knight to C3**

**---.---**

**Thermopylae Base  
Marduk, Draconis Combine  
February 15, 3059  
15:47 hrs**

Ice's jeep skidded to a halt just shy of his battlemech. Hopping out, he began to bark out orders. Seeing Tribal checking his mech, Ice shouted out to him. "Tribal, you've got perimeter command while we're out. I want your lance guarding the bridges. Get Rain Lance out there to provide covering fire from the ridge. You find Bravo, and you get him to set up close-perimeter defense and find out who our mech-rated techs or infantry are. I want our four best to find some spare neurohelmets and get them tuned enough that they can pilot that spare _Rifleman_ and _Jenner_. Those two are the priorities, but if you can get enough, power up the _Urbanmechs_. Keep'em home just in case. Set up infantry for road defense. And get the dumpster divers loaded up in the _Pride_, if we get a lull or manage to hold, I want some salvage out of this."

"You got it boss" replied Tribal as he climbed down to the hanger floor and went to make arrangements.

Grabbing a pair of shorts, Ice quickly changed behind the leg of his 100 ton _Devastator_. He took a quick sip of water and threw on his cooling vest, then scrambled up the ladder to his cockpit. Plugging in the vest and donning the neurohelmet that helped keep his machine upright, Ice brought his mech out of standby and went through his voice recognition sequence, unlocking the mech's wide array of weaponry.

Walking his machine out to the parade ground, Ice took a quick glimpse at his assembled force. A company's worth of mechs, though McDougal's people were still relatively green and untested. He had no choice really. If he took McDougal and his lance, he risked the dangers of green pilots. If he took Tribal's lance instead, he had more experience, but that would leave Thermopylae Base under-gunned, and still with green pilots. Ice also had Caboose's lance of heavy armor and Jackman' four squads of Cavalier armored-infantry.

"So what are we waiting for, boss?" asked Rommy as her mech shifted anxiously.

"Patience grasshopper. You happened to call me while I was in the middle of a meeting over at Norse. I managed to get us some help because of it. Should be a company of mainly mediums and a nice little surprise that's going to scare the hell out of these St. George bastards. They'll be here any moment and then we can leave, so just keep your arse in your pilot couch and make sure you're strapped in. Wouldn't want to have you fall out because you were bouncing around too much" came Ice's reply.

That earned him a very rude and obscene gesture from Rommy's _Berserker_. Any retort that Ice was going to make was cut off as Base Command came on the air and notified him that the Norse mechs had entered the edge of the base's fire-zone.

"Alright people, let's move out" called Ice. "McDougal, you and your people are designated Katana Lance, take point. Caboose, you follow, then the assaults, Jackman, and Grogg cover the rear. Our Norse friends are going to follow us in."

Ice switched over to a general frequency to speak to the approaching friendly mechs. "Star Commander, it is good to see you so eager for combat. Comm. frequency will be 112.8 for this operation. Encryption 'Alpha-1-6-Theta'."

"Acknowledged Captain. We have a general idea where to go, but no specifics. Lead the way" came the reply.

"Ice, why are their clanners here?" asked a confused Rommy.

"It's alright Roms, they're a goodwill defense force sent by Phelan Ward from the ARDC. They have just as much stake in this as we do since their Clan is buying Norse mechs. Don't worry about them, just try to avoid contractions when speaking to anyone from their Nova, the contractions offend them if used too frequently."

"Nova? What the hell is a Nova?"

"They have a star of mechs and a star of elementals. In their terminology that combined arms force is called a Nova. You might want to read up a bit, Rommy" snickered Ice.

With the playful comms banter out of the way, the column formed up and moved out. Relina had provided more than asked for. On top of loaning her Wolf-in-Exile Nova, she had sent a full company of medium mechs and two lances of armor. This brought the numbers out to two companies of mechs, a Nova of mechs and elementals, a company of armor, and a little over a platoon of armored-infantry. Ice prayed this was going to be enough to turn back the Order of Saint George column.

Toriyama had sent back reports that this was an advanced column with a full battalion of mechs and likely another battalion of armor, infantry support was unknown. Apparently they were trying to cut off the retreat route for the New Pontiac Militia while two or three other columns of equal or greater strength converged on New Pontiac itself. It was a classic pincer move. Cut off the route of retreat, and corner the enemy. With nowhere to run, they would have to stay and fight, and likely die.

About 16 klicks east of the Zamas River, there began the belts of solid ground and healthy soil needed for high yield farming. The farms in the area ran right up to the edge of the sporadic jungle growth, where the timber companies had ceased their clearing. These farms ran for hundreds of kilometers before the next sizable town, and of course every farm needed road access. Once the farmers had settled in, all those centuries ago, they had managed to get the planetary government to agree to build and maintain a series of grid-like roads that connected all of the farms to the Norse-New Pontiac road to the north, and down towards the township of Romulus to the south. It was this very system of well maintained roads that the warriors of the Order of Saint George now advanced. It was also on those same roads that the Spartans and company intended to keep the door wedged open for _Tai-sa_ Toriyama and the Militia under his command.

Rommy quickly laid out the plan she had made and everyone moved their mechs and vehicles into position. Star Commander Fenris Ward's star of battlemechs was to line itself perpendicular to the road and stand there, stopping any traffic. His elementals were to hide themselves in a nearby barn that was about 50 meters east of the road. A lance of medium mechs from Norse was to wait about 800 meters back from the clanners, posting themselves at the juncture of the farming road and the Norse-New Pontiac road, awaiting the arrival of the vanguard of Militia vehicles. The remaining mechs and armor made their way into the jungle nearly 1.25 kilometers to the west, and waited in low-power mode with radars off.

---.---

**Outer Farm Road  
34 kilometers west of New Pontiac**

**Marduk, Draconis Combine  
February 15, 3059  
16:50 hours**

Star Commander Fenris Ward sat in the cockpit of his 65 ton _Cauldron-Born_, waiting for the Order of Saint George troops to arrive. He was somewhat uncomfortable with the plan set forth by Lieutenant Witters. It was not fighting as the Clans fought, but rather fighting in a style perfected by the Inner Sphere troops over the centuries. He supposed that it would be acceptable this time around. After all, the Order of Saint George had proven themselves to have no honor with their execution of innocents and civilians. That act alone violated more Clan codes of honor than he could count, even if they were freeborns.

Fenris had never had as large of a problem dealing with 'freebirths' and those of the Inner Sphere. His Clan was now a part of the Inner Sphere, like it or not, and accepting that fact made it a lot easier to deal with. He figured that was part of the reason that Khan Ward had selected him for this duty, his ability to accept and have dealings with those of the Inner Sphere. If he performed his mission well, Fenris figured he might even be given a Trial of Position for Star Captain, making his command over this Nova official. Fenris had hand-picked every member of this Nova, he knew they would perform to, and surpass, expectations.

Fenris ceased his musings as Mechwarrior Adam piped up that his radar had picked up a medium scout lance. Moments later, they also appeared on Fenris' radar. Three mediums and a single light; it would hardly a challenge for even one of the mechs of Fenris' star. He had pieced the star together based on speed and overwhelming firepower. The lightest mech at his disposal was a full 60 tons.

As the scout lance crested a small rise and began to panic seeing five clan mechs, Fenris keyed open his comms. "Attention Inner Sphere surrats, I am Star Commander Fenris Ward. You have entered Norse Battlemech Works' territory with intent to harm. I hereby challenge you to a Trial of Refusal for entry into the area under Norse control."

A crackle of static brought with it a voice. "This is Lance-Corporal Meghan Kent. Who the hell are you people and what the fk is a Trial of Refusal? Our quarrel isn't with you, now get out of our way or incur the wrath of the Order of Saint George."

"You refuse honorable combat with warriors of Clan Wolf? You are foolish Mechwarrior Meghan. I was even going to give you a sporting chance with your whole lance against only one of my mechs. Are you sure you do not wish to reconsider?" replied Fenris.

The only response that Fenris received was a large laser shot from a 50 ton _Chameleon_ streaking above his cockpit and the impact of five LRMs from a 55 ton _Shadow Hawk_ 2H. "Zellbrigen has been broken. Destroy them."

As Fenris uttered those words, the clan mechs leapt into action. The _Shadow Hawk_ almost immediately detonated as three clan mechs choose it as their target, the large lasers and PPCs spearing right through the thin armor. Fenris lined up his reticule over the _Chameleon_ and squeezed the trigger, sending both PPCs of his _Cauldron Born_ Beta Configuration splashing over the small 50 tonner, melting armor and sheering off the left arm at the elbow. His mech shuddered under the glancing blows from a pair of autocannon from an old BJ-1 _Blackjack_, but Fenris ignored it and sent his extended-range large pulse lasers stitching across the _Chameleon_, turning over a ton and a half of armor into slag. The Inner Sphere pilot managed to keep her mech upright, but died a fiery death as 40 LRMs from Mechwarrior Cassie's 60 ton _Mad Dog_ (Vulture Prime) exploited the weakened armor and ruptured the reactor.

Fenris surveyed the field for more targets, but there were none. Mechwarrior Jamie had made short work of a _Jenner_ with her 80 ton _Man-of-War_ (Gargoyle Charlie). The _Blackjack_ was falling to the ground, missing its leg and its cockpit courtesy of Mechwarrior Adam's 65 ton _Hellbringer_ (Loki Prime) and Mechwarrior Jita's 95 ton _Executioner_ (Gladiator Alpha). None of the clan mechs had taken more than superficial damage, scorched paint and a few portions of pockmarked armor. Without a threat, the star of Clan Wolf warriors made their way back to their starting position to await the mechs that would undoubtedly come searching for their missing scout lance.

By the time the next bunch of Order mechs and vehicles came into sight, the column of armor and trucked infantry had begun to pass the intersection and continue onwards towards Thermopylae Base.

"This is Star Commander Fenris Ward of Clan Wolf. I am here to defend the lands of Norse Battlemech Works. What forces oppose me?" called Fenris to the Order troops.

"Star Commander Ward, this is Sir Edwin Mitchell, Knight of the Order of Saint George. We had no fight with you. You would have had another two weeks to surrender the Norse Facility and get off planet. You've killed Order troops though, and we can't let that stand. All who resist will be eliminated." At the beckoning of Mitchell's 95 ton _Banshee_, Order mechs and tanks began to move forward on the Clan Wolf position.

"Honorless dogs, prepare to feel the wrath of Kerensky's children" stated Fenris. He quickly targeted a Bulldog medium tank and poured joules upon joules of energy into it, stopping the tank in its tracks, the crew dead. The other clan mechs also targeted and began to pick apart the two companies of armor that were streaming down towards them, largely ignoring the smaller mechs that were also advancing. This lack of intention only encouraged the Order mech pilots to advance upon the stubborn Clan resistance.

Fenris found his mech being knocked around mercilessly from the combined fire of three mechs. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Mechwarrior Jita's _Executioner_ taken down to one knee to stay upright, before the Clan warrior raised her mech's arm and sprayed a flurry of fire from her three extended range large pulse lasers at another lance of medium tanks. Mechwarrior Adam's _Hellbringer_ had lost its left arm, and with it one of his PPCs, cutting the mech's long range firepower in half. Cassie was carving a swath of destruction with her _Mad Dog_, its load of missiles and pulse lasers giving her a sphere of protection around her mech, as no mech or tank had yet shown the courage or foolishness to approach her mech. Jamie's _Man-of-War_ was currently slugging it out with _Jagermech_, but the clan mech's Class 20 Ultra-Autocannon and six extended range medium lasers were making short work of the older mech's armor.

Then, the furthest forward Order mech, an old _Thunderbolt_, came even with the barn a few hundred meters in advance of the clan position. It almost appeared as if the barn exploded. A full star of clan elementals, 15 in all, came flying out of the barn and latched on to the two closest mechs, the _Thunderbolt_ and an unfortunate _Whitworth_. Neither pilot was quick to react until the elementals were latched on and carving up their armor.

---.---

Sir Edwin Mitchell stopped his mech short. Finding a star of clanners blocking his patch to the Militia armor column within sight was infuriating and bad enough. Having a swarm of elementals emerge from nowhere was even worse. Edwin looked on as the elementals jetted away from the _Thunderbolt_ as its LRM ammo cooked off, tearing the mech to shreds and sending one of its arms careening into a Bulldog tank, knocking it out. The _Whitworth_ crashed to the ground, devoid of a pilot, and the elementals on that chassis swarmed out to find new victims. He shot off his two medium lasers at an elemental that came too close, but the little knat didn't die. Instead it continued on and latched onto one of his Patton Heavy Tanks. Curse those damned techs! If only they had finished the field upgrade for his _Banshee_ to the 5S version rather then the nearly powerless 3E variant. They had managed to replace the reactor with an XL version and had partially upgraded the weaponry, but the early implementation of Phase 2 as well as the severe actuator problems his force had undergone had forced the techs to bump his upgrade down their list of priorities.

He squeezed off a shot with his two PPCs, impacting a Norse Battlemech _Griffin_ that was providing the clanners fire-support. The mech took the damage and continued to fire without hesitation. Oh how Edwin wished that he had more up-to-date mechs. Tank forces had not changed so much that his armor was completely outclassed, but there had been so many changes to mechs within the last decade that many of his mechs were more worthy of a museum exhibit from the 4th Succession War than combat. His task force in particular had been denied many of the new mechs that had been shipped in and assembled since it was not expected he would have to fight a pitched battle with other mech forces. Rather he was just supposed to cut off the escape route and make sure that Sir Baldwin's columns could engage and destroy the Militia.

No matter, two more of Edwin's mech companies were coming into the fight as was another company of armor. There was no way that he could deploy his small numbers of infantry with any hope of doing anything other than sending them to their deaths at the moment. If he was going to win this fight, even against a clan enemy that he sorely outnumbered, he needed all of the firepower he could amass. The five clan mechs in his way undoubtedly massed nearly as much as one of his lighter companies, and matched one in firepower as well.

There! Two of the supporting Norse mechs went down, one without a head due to the explosion of the LRM launcher right next to the cockpit, and one to a reactor breach. At this rate he wouldn't have much of a force left afterwards, but he would win! Order forces continued to close with the clanners and pour fire into their omni-mechs.

Without warning, LRM, PPC, and Gauss fire poured in from Edwin's left. 'Dear God it was a trap!' thought Edwin. Out of the woods at the edge of the field advanced a mixed battalion of mechs and armor. 'Oh shit, they have assault mechs and Alacorns'. Two lances of mechs and most of the armor were painted in the colors of Norse Battlemechs and lighter in nature, but a whole company of mechs and the heaviest tanks were painted black. The only identifying marks on them were the large symbol over the left chest of the machines, a ovoid shield with letters inside it, painted on in a noticeable bronze and red color scheme.

Edwin had been brief on the Stuart's Spartans, but hadn't thought they would be a factor in this fight. Their numbers were small, but Edwin had seen the combat footage the Order had managed to acquire from their sponsors on Robinson. He had seen the fight and how a severely under-gunned mixed company had held off a force over three times their strength on Devil's Rock. Edwin felt like the biggest idiot. The only reason he had chosen this location to cut off the Militia was because he had counted on the fact that the Spartans wouldn't come out to confront him due to their low numbers. 'They must have nearly stripped their base of defenses to send this force out' he thought.

It didn't matter now. The Spartans were here and were advancing in line and using the mass-fire tactics that had proven themselves so effective over the centuries. Edwin saw his force being sliced into pieces. Tanks and battlemechs alike fell motionless as the Spartans' fire cut into the older equipment the Order fielded. The clan mechs and elementals were still causing havoc at the front of the formation. There was no way to reorganize his force enough to counter this threat.

Edwin's _Banshee_ rocked as twin gauss and PPC impacted against his mech, chewing deep gouges into its torso. He returned fire at the _Devastator_, said to belong to the de-facto commander of the Spartans on-planet. He wanted to fight, his honor and pride demanded it, but there was no way that his _Banshee_ could stand up to a _Devastator_ in its present state. More LRMs and large laser fire from a Spartan _Mad Cat_ rained across the upper extremities of Edwin's mech. It forced him to accept logic.

Edwin keyed up his command's general frequency. "All Order forces, fighting retreat to the southeast. Watch for pursuit and elementals." It galled him to have to pull back. Sir Baldwin would have his hide, but at least he had some troops to return with. As his people pulled out of range and detected no pursuit, Edwin took a quick head-count of his taskforce. Out of 48 battlemechs taken to the field, a full 4 companies' worth, Edwin was returning with 31. 17 mechs left on the field, most from the Spartans' sneak attack. It was unacceptable! Damn Sir Baldwin and his refusal to give Edwin even a few lances of newer mechs. He would never say that to the man though, that would be asking for an instant execution. The totals for his tank force were even worse. 5 companies for 60 vehicles and he was coming back with 25. Over half of his tank force was burning or scrap in the fields of wheat, almost all of that damage due to the clanners. Edwin could only shake his head. He might be executed after all…

---.---

Ice couldn't wipe the grin off of his face. Rommy's plan had worked even better than he had hoped. Most of the machines that had been thrown at the Star Commander hadn't seen combat since the 4th Succession War! It was almost like picking on defenseless little children. When the Clans had first invaded, old mechs like the ones he had seen today had proven themselves to be no match at all. Their armor was too thin and their weapons lacked the power and range. It was like watching an old holo-vid of the invasion…that's how lopsided it had been. Then there was the ambush! Oh he was almost giddy about that. Now he knew what people meant with the old expression 'like wheat before the scythe', an apt reference considering where they had fought.

The Spartans and Allies had gotten away from this fight easy. They had lost 9 tanks and hovercraft. Two had been medium tanks from the Norse company helping with the ambush. The other 7 had been from Militia armor that had turned off the road to help hold back the Order force while the mobile artillery had moved to safety. 5 mechs had also gone down, 4 of them from the light and medium mechs provided by Norse. Their lesser amounts of armor hadn't allowed them to go toe to toe and shrug off the damage as the larger mechs had. Two Griffin's had fallen in support of Star Commander Ward's position, both pilots were dead. The other two Norse mechs taken down were due to a Wolverine that had its leg shot off and a _Nightsky_ whose reactor dampened before it exploded. The other mech taken down wasn't so much a casualty as it was inconvenient damage. Marzipan's _Mad Cat_ had taken a pair of PPC shots from the _Banshee_ as it fled the field. It had been a lucky hit, but the heat and energy from the beams fused the hip joint of her mech's left leg, leaving the mech nearly immobile.

"Thermopylae Base, this is Captain Olsen."

"Thermopylae Base here. What can we do for you Captain?" came the response.

"Send in the _Pride of Sparta_, we'll need the salvage teams and as many techs as can be spared. There are plenty of hulks to strip."

"Roger, Captain. Message relayed. _Pride_ reports ETA 10 minutes. Thermopylae Base out."

It was a good day to be a mercenary, thought Ice. Good fights, even better salvage, and the immense satisfaction of having thrown down the gauntlet, effectively bitch-slapping one of the Order's ranking 'knights'.

'Take that Order of Saint George…you're not going to win this without one hell of a fight. And if it's a fight you want, you'll get the biggest fight of your lives. I will guarantee that every meter you gain is going to be paid for dearly with the blood of your troops and those bigoted assholes that support you" thought Ice as he surveyed the carnage.

---End Chapter---

AN: There you go people, another exciting episode of Stuart's Spartans: Backstab. Hope you enjoyed some good old-fashioned action this time around. R&R and I'll see you next time, mech-fans.

-AP


	14. Chapter 12: Lines are Drawn

AN: My apologize for the extreme delay in getting this chapter posted…life has been hectic lately. I am not giving up on this story, but advanced warning to all my readers that updates may be sporadic for the next few months as I scramble to get done over 70 pgs of term papers done for my classes.

----.----

Chapter 12: Lines are drawn

**New Pontiac Militia Base  
Marduk, Draconis Combine  
February 15, 3059**

Tetsuo Toriyama was not having a good day. The last few months had been hell as far as stress went, but with the bombings five days ago, the attacks by the Order of Saint George, and then Adkins turning traitor had nearly caused him a breakdown. Now Tetsuo had Order troops closing in on New Pontiac, clearly intent on ousting him from his base and capturing as much Militia equipment as possible. His scouts had picked up on three columns converging on the city and his base, while another somewhat smaller column moved to cut off his route of escape back towards the Spartans. A quick conversation with 'Rommy' Witters had earned Tetsuo the assurance that the door would be held open, but to start pulling his people out.

So far the vast majority of his armor and infantry had been withdrawn to safety. Only four of his five battlemech companies, a company of armor, and a group of engineers remained. They had destroyed as much in the way of paperwork and equipment as possible, and now the base was being rigged with explosives. Tetsuo would be damned if he was going to leave these Order freaks more than what he couldn't destroy or cart off.

Now he was sitting in the command couch of his ancient battlemech, a Star League-era 75 ton _Flashman_. It was a mech that had been passed down through the family since the League's collapse, when his ancestor had been left behind when the rest of his Regiment had pulled off-planet. As fast as some mechs 20 tons lighter, and packing a punch worthy of an assault mech, the _Flashman_ was once again waiting for action, seeing another Toriyama through to safety as it had for centuries.

"_Tai-sa_, the explosives are rigged. We are ready to go" came the report from the APC that was to transport the engineers to safety after their job was completed. Without warning the APC exploded in a cloud of flame and shrapnel, and Tetsuo followed the path of the shot to the smoking PPC on the arm of ­_Chu-sa_ Yuki's _Marauder_.

"I'm afraid I can't let you deprive the Order of this base and its supplies, Tetsuo" said Kaori as she turned her mech to face his _Flashman_. "I respect you greatly after having served with you these past 7 years, and that is why I am offering you the chance to leave without a fight. If you resist, I will have to kill you, however. Don't make me do that, please."

"Kaori, why are you doing this? Don't follow these fools" replied Tetsuo. "It's not too late to forget the Order and help us protect what few of our brethren are left."

"Don't you see, Tetsuo? They aren't my brethren! I may be of Japanese descent as you are, but my family has been citizens of the Federated Suns and loyal to House Davion since the Star League! No, Kurita came in those two decades ago and the Combine planetary assault killed over half of MY family. I've been in the Order since I was old enough to pilot a mech, there is no forsaking them, those of the Order are my family. Now I beg of you to please step aside and leave. I really don't want to have to fight you, my friend."

Tetsuo couldn't believe it. Kaori, his friend, his confidant, had been planning to betray them all for years. Behind Kaori's _Marauder_, he saw an engineer poke her head out from around the corner just long enough to catch his attention and nod. He understood. Though he couldn't remember her name, her actions this day would bring much honor to her line.

"Very well, Kaori. I will leave with those who will still follow me. The base is yours, do with it what you will. I trusted you, Kaori, I truly did. It breaks my heart to see you side with _them_." Tetsuo spat out that last word with a venom rarely heard in his voice. "This is not the time or the place to resolve this by combat, but know that when we finish this, Kaori, only ONE of us will walk away…this much I swear to you, and I have no intention of losing. Marduk Militia, let's go to our new home…"

With that, Tetsuo Toriyama, Commander of what was left of the Marduk Militia, turned his aged _Flashman_ and strode out of the base. He was followed by only two companies of mechs, leaving Kaori with two companies of battlemechs and another of armor. It was a severe blow, but that only such a small portion of the Militia forces chose to follow Kaori and the Order of Saint George was, is a sense, a victory in itself. As soon as Tetsuo and his companions cleared the base compound, they began to sprint westward, towards the safety of the Stuart's Spartans and Norse Battlemechs. Behind them, a blinding flash and a thunderous explosion marked the sacrifice of the engineer, who had set off the explosives rigged to detonate the remaining munitions. The explosion leveled more then half of the base, but Tetsuo had no doubt that Kaori and many of her traitorous compatriots survived.

'You will pay for your betrayal, Kaori. Mark my words you will pay' thought Tetsuo as he sped past the fields.

---.---

**Farmlands West of New Pontiac  
Marduk, Draconis Combine  
February 15, 3059**

"Dear God! You went and created a Heaven on Marduk for this old tech, boss" said the Spartans' Chief Technician Vipul Wilson as he exited the _Pride of Sparta_ with recovery and tech crews. He had been hired just a short time before the advanced Spartan Force had left for Marduk to replace Dani Klecha as she moved up from Chief Tech to being a mech jockey. He was old enough to be Ice's father, but the man had been a tech for over 30 years, having seen the 4th Succession War and the War of '39. "Most of these mechs are old and obsolete, like I would have worked on back in the days, but these old eyes are guessing that there are a number of chassis that can be salvaged. With enough time and money, could probably update and refit them for current standards. Even if we don't, there are enough weapon systems and ammo in these hulks that it might be better to just drag the lot of this junk back to the base and strip it all there…if there's any kind of combat coming this way, we're not gonna have time to strip even half of these, and we both know how the two of us feel about giving the enemy weapons they haven't earned."

"True enough, Vip" replied Ice as he sat on the foot of his _Devastator_. "I'd call in the _Chupacabra_ but the engines are cold. By the time they got here we'd likely need to pull out anyway. Haul anything that looks good onto the _Pride_. Anything you don't think you can refurbish, strip out the weapons and any ammo that we need. Whatever you don't take, be sure to thermite bomb it. As you said, nothing given back if we can help it. If you can't destroy what's left, get the _Pride_ to slag it. You've got about an hour and half by my guess if the Order columns keep coming at this pace. Be sure to leave yourself some cushion time so you're not getting out of here under fire. I'm giving you Raven, Grogg, Rommy, and Mobius to help with hauling stuff. Their hand actuators should help move that stuff fast. You're going to have the Norse taskforce for protection. I'm heading out with McDougal's people and the clanners for an area sweep, so if you get the call to pull out, you get the hell out of here fast, cause it'll mean that we can't hold back whatever is coming your way. No heroics."

"Yeah yeah, son. Whatever you say, ha" replied the old tech, waving Ice off. "You just go and have fun. And _please_ try to bring that piece of garbage back in relatively intact…it's hard work keeping those 100 ton mechs up and running all the time, and I wouldn't want to accidentally forget to turn on your ejection mechanism one of these times while I'm making repairs. Now get out of here so I can do my job."

Ice just laughed and climbed back up to his command couch. The old man might have a mouth on him and be cynical, but Ice hadn't seen anyone who instinctually knew their way around any kind of mech like Vipul did.

Clicking over to a general frequency, Ice began to call out orders. "Rommy, Grogg, Raven, Mobius, the four of you are gonna help haul this crap onto the _Pride_. Vipul will be pressed for time as is. Jackman, Caboose, stay here with the Norse Mechs to provide cover and deal with any prisoners. Arcturo, Nex, you two are with me. McDougal, you and your lance are coming too. Star Commander, if you and your people have avoided taken too much damage, you are more than welcome to come along as well."

A chorus of 'Roger's resounded as the Spartans moved to their assigned tasks.

"We are good enough, Captain Jake. Allow us a moment to mount our Elementals and we shall join you hunting for any straggling Order surrats."

Within moments the ad-hoc company was on the move, sweeping towards the southeast, following the trail taken by the retreating Order troops. There was no sign of any mechs or tanks, just tracks showing a somewhat disorganized retreat falling off to the southeast. After a few kilometers, Ice noticed many of the tracks pulling off to the north/northeast. 'This can't be good' he thought. Almost as if fate had read his mind, a burst of static came over his headset followed by a familiar voice.

"Anyone that can hear me, please respond. Captain Olsen, Lieutenant Witters, if you are out there please respond."

"Tetsuo, it's Olsen. I've got you, over."

"Olsen! Thank you! I've been trying to call out for the past 10 minutes or so. We're in deep shit up here on the Norse-New Pontiac Road. We evacuated the base and blew what we could, but one of the Order columns caught up with us from the north. It's been a fighting withdrawal for the last 5 klicks, but I've already lost three mechs. They've got almost a battalion from what I can tell, and there're a few flights of choppers buzzing us as well. We're about 10 klicks west of the city and counting so get over here if you want any Militia backup for the foreseeable future."

"Roger, Tetsuo. We're on our way. ETA 10 minutes. Watch your 6, though. We might have some stragglers from the original cutoff force making their way at you from the south."

---.---

Tetsuo flinched as a PPC bolt shot over his _Flashman_'s left shoulder. Still backpedaling, he twisted his torso towards the offending _Griffin_ and let loose with his trio of large lasers, scoring away armor with two while the third hit a tree, causing it to explode as the sap superheated. His two companies of mechs were down a full lance, all lights and mediums that couldn't withstand the barrage of fire that had been pummeling the Militia force. So far they had downed three mechs in return, a _Commando_, a _Falcon_, and an _Assassin_ that had wandered too close.

"_Demon_ moving up on the left" came the call from one of his mechwarriors. In response, a 70 ton _No-Dachi_ and 45 ton _Stealth_ halted their backpedaling and moved to intercept. The _Demon_ had overextended itself. Armed only with medium lasers and SRMs, the 65 ton mech had moved past any comrades that could have supported it. Stopping short as the pilot realized he/she was out alone, the mech made a perfect target and was wreathed in explosions as over 30 MRMs and SRMs from the two mechs found their mark. Tetsuo added two large lasers and a pair of medium lasers to the mix, exploiting and widening the rents in the side torso begun by the missiles. Seconds later, the _No-Dachi_ followed up with its erPPC and medium laser, piercing the internals and spearing an ammunition bay full of SRMs, sending the pilot of the _Demon_ shooting skyward in an ejector pod as the mech blasted itself apart.

His mech rocked as a pair of large lasers impacted his mech's right arm and left leg. 'Damnit, we're going to be ground into the dust at this rate' thought Tetsuo.

"Sir, we've got incoming hostiles from the south. IFF ID's them as belong to the Order."

"Shit" cursed Tetsuo. "Command Company, continue to fall back steady. Beta Company, hinge backwards. I want you to be facing southward to catch whatever else is coming our way. Continue to fall back to the west. Stay together, plug any gaps. Take care of as many long range mechs first. Make them come to us and pay for it while they do so. Help will be here shortly."

Come they did, and in great numbers too. Another two companies of mechs and a company of armor, all older equipment, made their way into the fight. Many of them bore battle-scars and blackened armor, survivors of the Spartan ambush. It may have been older equipment, but the numbers were beginning to tell. Two more Militia mechs fell in rapid succession as a new wave of fire came crashing in.

"Damnit!" exclaimed Tetsuo. "All units, we're leapfrogging it back. Beta Company, leap back about 400 meters and lay down cover fire. Command Company, when cover fire is up, leap back to about 400 meters back from Beta and repeat. We've got to move fast here if we want to survive, people. No mistakes. If you're taken down, eject and try to get back behind our lines, but there is no shame in going down fighting…you saw how they shot Shana's ejector pod. Beta, initiate movement on my mark…MARK!"

With that, the 8 remaining mechs of Beta Company rushed back to the predetermined position. Swiftly turning and steadying themselves, the pilots laid down a withering cover fire. PPC blasts and laser beams filled the sky as mech pilots pushed their machines to the brink of shutdown while the Command Company scurried to fall back and take up the next position. A Militia _Commando_ fell as it was shot from behind…there was no ejection.

The Order forces, seeing a decrease in the amount of fire and the repositioning of the Militia, took the opportunity to press their advantages in numbers and close the distance. They were brought up short as a _Jagermech_ in the midst of the main Order formation exploded brilliantly as its ammunition cooked off. Edwin Mitchell turned his mech to look for where the PPC bolts had come from. He paled at the sight of a black 100 ton _Devastator_ standing tall on a small rise to his formation's left rear. What had he done to deserve such a determined enemy that made such a pain in the ass of himself?

The _Devastator_ stood there like a rock as it sprayed a trio of medium lasers at a nearby light mech, slagging over a ton of armor. From behind it, another 6 black mechs emerged and leapt into the fray as 5 Clan mechs look up positions next to the 100 ton monster. All 5 had the unmistakable unit marking of a wolf's head over a field of stars. Little armored figures blasted off the Clan mechs and began to move forward as well.

'Bloody Elementals!' thought Edwin. "Action rear, action rear! Spartan and Clan mechs at 7:00. Get them!"

---.---

Ice grinned like a madman as the _Jagermech_ exploded in a grand fireball. 'Score one for the Voltron Force' he thought, referencing an animated 20th Century show he had come across in his teenage years and taken a liking to. "Alright people, kick ass, don't bother taking names, and blow shit up, ahahaha!" he said as he let loose on an unsuspecting _Raven_ with his medium lasers.

The light mech went down to the laser and autocannon blasts of Arcturos and Nex in their _Cataphract_ and _Gallowglas_ heavy mechs as they flew overhead on the trails of plasma spewing from their mechs' jumpjets. Katana Lance rushed into the fight as well, spraying out destruction as the quartet of speedy mechs rushed into the middle of the Order machines. Not to be left out, the star of Clan Wolf-in-Exile battlemechs took advantage of their longer ranged weaponry and began to pick apart targets as they presented themselves.

Ice managed to spot a lance of Loader-mechs pressed into military service, not normally a spot for the diesel-run workhorses of spaceports across the Inner Sphere. Within a minute, he had picked off three of the four from extreme range. The fourth managed to duck behind a copse of trees to avoid its demise, but by then it didn't matter as Ice had turned his attention elsewhere, as the Order began a general withdrawal.

In the span of only 10 minutes, the Order had lost another 6 mechs to the crossfire. Knowing that they couldn't win without nearly destroying themselves in the process, someone had apparently made the call that it was best to fall back and consolidate the gains that had already been made. In short order, the Saint George mechs and troops conceded the battlefield after trading long-range fire for a few moments.

"You and your people alright, Tetsuo?" asked Ice.

"We will be. Thanks for the save. I'm not sure how much longer we would have held without help. Lost seven mechs though…including pilots…there's nothing left for us here."

"Roger. My condolences for your losses, my friend, I'm sure they were good people and pilots. Head on back to Thermopylae Base so you can get some rest. I'll send as many techs as I can spare once the salvage operation is finished…with any luck we may have a pretty decent haul. We'll make sure no one follows you back. Head on home…" said the weary Spartan commander. 'I just hope that our combined skill and strength will be enough to stop these murdering bastards' thought Ice as he walked his mech off the field, leaving behind a torn and scorched landscape from the fight he had helped end.

---.---

**New Pontiac  
Marduk, Draconis Combine  
February 15, 3059**

"…Damn your incompetence, Mitchell!" screamed Sir Baldwin, the 'Knight' in charge of the Order of Saint George operations around New Pontiac. "You had one of the larger commands that we had managed to scrape together over these last two decades, and you lose half of it in a single day! On top of that you can't even complete your mission…or do ANY damage to the fleeing Militia, be it the tanks or the mechs that you had cornered! Explain to me why I shouldn't have your head mounted on a pike for this."

Edwin mentally sighed. 'Yeah, lay all the bloody blame on me you witless twat' thought the Knight. "Sir Baldwin, with all due respect, there was nothing more that I could do if I wanted to come back with any of my task force. I was intercepted short of the Norse-New Pontiac Road by a star of Clanners…apparently Norse has them there to supplement their defense force. They destroyed nearly a company of my mechs and tanks in the first 10 minutes, so I was forced to commit my whole force to pushing them out of the way. When my troops had closed, a star of Clan Elementals emerged from hiding, and nearly a battalion of mechs and armor ambushed my left flank."

He continued "Frankly sir, my command might have been larger, but most of my equipment dates or dated back to the 4th Succession War and the War of '39. Even if all of my mechs and armor had been in pristine condition, which they were not, we would likely not have been able to stop the battalion alone. They had the element of surprise, heavier mechs and armor, and longer ranged weaponry. You can verify that with Sir Nicholas. He saw the portion of their force that apparently followed my retreat and came to the rescue of the Militia. If you wish to execute me for things beyond my control, it is in your right according to the Order doctrine. But know this sir, if you had granted my requests for overhauls for most of my force and even a handful of newer mechs, we may have been able to achieve victory this day."

Sir Baldwin glared daggers at his subordinate. "Know your place, _Sir_ Mitchell. As tempted as I am to kill you myself for this, I am no fool. Perhaps you are right, and that I do share _some_ of the blame for today's losses. What is done is done, and now we need to determine how to pry these Spartans out from the protection their position offers. You will live for now, Mitchell, but I am going to watch you like a hawk. Fail again and I will fight you to the death. Now get out of my sight, before I change my mind about having you killed…and have your aide send me your ideas on the Spartan problem. That is your new pet project."


	15. Chapter 13: Backstab

AN: Hey y'all...I know it's been ages since the last update...nearly a year I think. I'm back now from the craziness that has plaged me for months and should be starting to update on a fairly regular basis again. Anywho, I hope y'all enjoy the 13th chapter.

---.---

**Thermopylae Base  
Marduk, Draconis Combine  
February 16, 3059  
0230 Hours**

She'd gotten the call from her true employers a mere hour ago. If she was going to get out, it had to be tonight before the Militia reorganized and before the incoming dropships landed in two days' time…the Order needed the information she carried. As was, the base was still in a semi-state of chaos. Militia mechs, tanks, and personnel were scattered all over the base and also over at Norse Battlemech Works in an attempt to accommodate the large influx of people and materiel.

At the moment, the base was almost dead quiet. Only a few hearty techs attempting to repair their charges and a handful of wall guards were scattered around. She managed to make her way into the main mech hanger without being seen. Sticking to the shadows, she skirted a team of techs that were busy working away at replacing the hip joint on Marzipan's _Madcat_. Without a noise, she was able to work her way up to the top gantry and get into her mech's cockpit to remove her neurohelmet and the circuit boards that attuned the helmet to the mech in use. She'd miss her little _Hermes_, but despite its speed, it wouldn't be enough to protect her and help her fight through to the safety of Order territory.

Looking around for her new ride, she spotted Colton Jones' _Warhammer_ just a few bays over. That would do perfectly. Not exactly the fastest mech around, but with enough firepower to overcome most mechs that could catch up with her…'Crap' she thought as she saw Colton standing on the shoulder of his mech, tweaking something on the outside of the missile pod his mech mounted.

----.----

Colton sighed in relief. He'd finally finished tightening down the loose connections in his shoulder missile pod. Earlier in the day, the warning light had gone off on his consol that the missile pod was offline. Despite repeated efforts to get it to come online while he waited on guard duty at the Zamas Bridges, there wasn't anything that could be done from the cockpit. When he was off duty, having been relieved for the night by a task force from Norse, he'd come back to base and waved off the techs, preferring to fix it himself.

Stepping back onto the gantry, Colton proceeded to put his tools away and attempt to wipe off as much grease as he could. Hearing a clang behind him, he passed it off as the techs doing work halfway down the hanger. When he heard another noise closer, he turned around to the sight of one of his comrades swinging a spanner at his head. "Tessa?!" was all he managed to get out before the piece of metal slammed into his head, sending him crumpling to the walkway.

----.----

"Sorry, Colton, it would have been easier on the two of us if you'd decided to get some sleep tonight. You might want to take something for that headache though" she said to the unconscious mechwarrior as she climbed into the _Warhammer_'s cockpit. Replacing the neurohelmet and circuitry with that from her own mech, Tessa hacked the mech's computer and bypassed the vocal recognition phase, coming away with an active mech that was weapons hot.

Tessa stepped the 70 ton mech forward and proceeded to exit the hanger. The techs working on the _Madcat_ turned and waved, apparently thinking she was 'Storm' taking his mech out to test his repairs. She waved the mech's arm slightly to acknowledge them and hopefully not give away that she wasn't Colton, not yet at least. As the _Warhammer_ approached the main gate, Tessa made a note of the positions of the two sentry/turret control towers nearby. It was standard operating procedure to challenge any activity at the gate…to respond would require vocal interaction.

As expected, the channel crackled and she was issued a challenge. "Attention _Warhammer_. Identify yourself and your purpose."

Tessa smirked, 'The fools…' She switched over to an unused comm. frequency and punched in an unusual combination. As soon as Tessa hit the last button, small explosions rocked the base as charges that she had placed detonated. With speed that one didn't normally associate with a _Warhammer_, Tessa had whipped around the mech's torso and let loose with a PPC bolt into the first tower. She then swung the mech's other arm around and, with hardly a glance, sent the other PPC into the second tower, blowing out the control deck. 'There's a reason they call me Hawk, idiots' thought Tessa as she cranked up the mech to full speed, dodging through the gate and sprinting for the Zamas Bridges.

---.---

Across Thermopylae Base, weary soldiers were suddenly awakened by a chain of explosions. Jacob Olsen was unfortunate enough that his room was very near one of them and was bodily thrown from his bed almost to the middle of his room. Cursing violently, Jake stumbled out of his room clad only in a pair of shorts and his weapons belt.

Entering the command center, he was hit with a wave of noise, from alarms and from personnel. "What the bloody hell is going on here?! Someone get me a damned status report NOW!"

"Sir, we have reports of explosions all over the base. One of the ammunition dumps went up and power is out to half the base and to perimeter turrets. Both towers on the eastern gate have been destroyed. Reports are saying that Colton's _Warhammer_ was approaching the gate when everything went to hell."

"Jake!" Rommy came running into the room. "Vipul's techs just found Storm in the hanger-bay. He's out cold from blunt-force trauma to the head…probably from the bloody spanner we found around his bay. He's in ICU right now, but there's only so much we can do for him here. Those explosions disrupted most of the power-lines to the infirmary and we don't have the facilities to most effectively treat those kinds of injuries."

"Shit" cursed Jake. "So Storm is out cold and someone's out there in his mech, and they're undoubtedly making their way towards the river. That's just great. What forces do we have on crossing patrol tonight?"

Rommy shoved a tech out of his seat and typed in a query into the computer terminal. "Looks like a pair of mechs from Hoplon Lance, Dani and Hollie if I recall from the request for volunteers. Also have Grogg with his _Cestus_ and a lance of lights and mediums from Norse backing up an unarmored infantry company they sent out there a few hours ago. It might be enough to stop the _Warhammer_, but we both know how hard it is to bring one of those things down and the losses we'd likely incur. Recommend that we let it pass without a fight, sir."

"Agreed, Rommy. We could probably stop that S.O.B., but we'd probably lose half the people out there. Issue out the orders to the bridge guard to get out of the _Warhammer_'s way and to not engage; fill them in on the situation here and let them know that we are unable to assist if they are immediately engaged. I'll go see what the situation is by the gate and see if Storm is going to be alright. Inform me if the situation changes."

---.---

**Zamas River Bridges**

**15 kilometers east of Thermopylae Base  
Marduk, Draconis Combine  
0300 hours**

Hollie sat uncomfortably in the cockpit of her _Firestarter_. She had been assigned the mech when she joined the Spartans since she did not have one of her own. For the last four months she had sat in this very seat almost daily for patrols, maintenance and simulations, but never had she felt like this while in the confines of her mech. The bridge guards had been informed of the sabotage and destruction at Thermopylae Base; they had even seen the flash of explosions from the bridges.

Orders had been received from Thermopylae Command to avoid engaging the rogue mechwarrior. Hollie had fumed when she'd heard the orders…whoever it was had brained Colton with a spanner and stolen his mech. Over the course of the months she had been with the Spartans, Hollie had grown exceptionally close to Colton and the two were known as an unofficial couple around the base due to the amount of time spent together when not on duty. The normally calm and cool mech pilot found herself consumed with flames of rage that burned as fiercely as any made by her mech's flamers. She would be damned if she would let this pass by without the perpetrator paying the price.

---.---

Tessa was breathing heavily with excitement. She had managed to get out of Thermopylae Base without a scratch on her or her new mech and now the bridges over the Zamas were in sight and with them, her bid at freedom. As she passed a small knoll a few hundred meters from the bridges, the mech's computer beeped in acquisition of a target. Seconds later, the _Warhammer_ was wreathed in fusion-made flames from a trio of flamers.

The _Warhammer_ stumbled under the unexpected attack as Hollie rocketed her _Firestarter_ up and over Tessa's mech, but not before pushing her heat curve and eating away at the armor atop the _Warhammer_'s shoulders with a pair of medium lasers. Tessa gasped as the heat in the cockpit spiked. Risking further strain to the aging heatsinks, Tessa toggled her paired small and medium lasers and snapped off a return shot at the descending _Firestarter_, only gouging a furrow into her target's right leg with a medium laser and missing with the rest. Ignoring the almost unbearable heat, Tessa turned her sluggish mech towards the river and slapping the automatic override button on her console as the computerized voice warned of critical heat levels as another wave of fire wrapped around her.

"Enjoying our little bonfire, dearie?" called Hollie over an open frequency. "I sure am. Especially after what you did to Colton, you bitch. May my fusion fueled flames send you to the deepest pits of hell" she said as the _Firestarter_ circled around the _Warhammer_, throwing more flames upon the walking pyre that Tessa's mech had become.

Without warning, the _Warhammer_ staggered as the SRMs in the shoulder-mounted missile launcher cooked-off from the intense heat. While the main ammunition bay did not detonate, the blast destroyed the launcher, leaving a gap in the armor protection and rendering the mech's right arm nearly useless. Sensing the kill, Hollie danced in closer, continuing to chip away at the diminishing protection of the overheated and largely defenseless _Warhammer_, slowing only slightly as her own heat curve rose.

Unable to fire her weapons due to heat, and having jettisoned the ammunition for her now non-existent SRM Launcher and machine guns in order to avoid an ammunition explosion, Tessa was forced to improvise if she were to survive. This was her only chance, for if she missed, her mech would soon shutdown and she would literally be cooked alive within her cockpit. There was no chance to reach the river, not with this heat. With an inarticulate cry of rage and desperation, Tessa stumbled forward at the _Firestarter_ as it entered her forward arc. Lifting her mech's left arm, Tessa moved forward the thrust at the _Firestarter_. '_No! I've failed_' were the last words to enter Hollie's mind as the flaming PPC barrel that comprised most of the _Warhammer_'s arm smashed through her cockpit and crushed her in an instant.

As the _Firestarter_ collapsed to the ground, Tessa once again slapped the override button to prevent a shutdown, and slowly made her way into the Zamas River amidst a cloud of steam from her scorching mech meeting the cool waters. With her mech at normal temperatures once more, Tessa waded her way onto the shore and began the jog eastward towards Order of Saint George territory and the capitol, New Pontiac.


End file.
